Soulless and Unseen
by Vindicare40k
Summary: The grim darkness of the far future contains many horrors and terrors beyond comprehension. To combat these, certain terrible individuals are crafted to be not only instruments of death, but also horror incarnate. What happens when one of these terrors ends up in Gotham City? How will Batman, and the Justice league handle such a being? Even more, can they even catch him?
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own either Warhammer 40k or DCAU_

 _Mission Debrief/ Personal Observations: October 29, M2 009, Gotham City, What Shall Become Known as Holy Terra._

 _2 months since initial arrival._

 _This is the first in what will more than likely be a long series of journal entries recording the experiences this operative receives. First and foremost, I am Nix, a Culexus Assassin, member of the Officio Assassinorum, and servant of the Imperium of Man. This record shall serve as a means of keeping debriefs of assassinations and for the documenting of key intel to be used by Assassinorum Officials upon my, Emperor blessed, return and a more official means of transcribing can be achieved. It shall also occasionally act as a replacement for the journal I kept back on The Fortress of the Soulless. Apologize in advance on the manner of which these records are written as no data pads are available that have security measures required to prevent the leakages of classified information._

 _To say the predicament I find myself in is extraordinary does no justice to the actual weight of the situation. I find myself on a strange, yet familiar planet that will one day become the shining beacon capital of the Imperium of Man, Holy Terra. As it stands at its present state though, Mankind has barely explored the stars, it's most recent venture to Mars resulted in a Xenos invasion that was thwarted by a group of Heretics known as the Justice League._

 _My placement on archaic Terra was not the result of the nature of the Warp, at least not directly. While in the process of executing an Eldar Farseer, a mission that was successful, on an Imperial battlefront, a Xenotic tool, one that I am now glad was destroyed prematurely as I dare not consider the ramifications of Xenos filth with the ability the object gave, was annihilated by an Imperial shell. The resounding explosion consumed me in the blast with blinding light. When my vision returned I was in a strange and primitive human city. A urban city known as Gotham._

 _Upon immediate investigation I found myself….concerned when I found out the nature of my placement. But as an Assassinorum operative I posses a wide range of abilities and talents that have since aided me greatly. The foremost of these is the ability to operate independently for extended periods of time. I have since taken refuge in an abandoned housing unit in the more crime ridden section of the city. The previous occupants were common criminals who have since been disposed of. The Pariah Gene in my body heavily discourages any and all that would wander into the building._

 _The whole of Gotham evokes an image of the underhives, just to a much smaller degree. The crime rate in the city, though stated to be abnormally high by the standards of this time, would be considered non-existent by any urban Imperial world. Though there is a more concentrated abundance of eccentric attitudes carried both by the criminals of the city, and the few vigilantes that patrol Gotham. There is a man who is stated to strike fear into the hearts of criminals in Gotham, a man who is peculiarly reminiscent of The Night Haunter, though he has never taken a life. This the man is referred to as Batman._

 _This Batman does nightly combat against the criminal underworld in Gotham, though crime never actually goes down. The local law enforcement are either corrupt or often more incompetent than would ever be allowed by an Arbites. This Batman does not work alone, he has two assistants, referred to as "sidekicks" called Robin and Batgirl. He is also a member of the Justice League, a Heretical group of humans, xenos and abhumans that, as of the moment, state that their intentions are to defend Holy Terra. The likelihood of their inevitable betrayal of said intention is quite high, and thus this operative has begun to set up possible means of assassination of each member, though much more intel will be required before any action should be taken._

 _As of this moment though I have reserved myself to only leaving my dwellings to obtain information on the various mutants and abhumans that reside in Gotham. The Batman may not kill his targets, but their continued escape from captivity and subsequent murder sprees are unacceptable for this assassin to tolerate existing. The target for tonight is one deranged maniac known by the general public as The Joker. He recently came into possession of a chemical weapon and plans to distribute it through the city's sewer system. This information came from a close henchman of his, whom I stalked and confronted for intel. I have always been used to the effects that my presence causes on people, the screaming and constant heavy breathing as they try and escape from me, yet the screams that man emitted were some of the loudest and most blood curdling ever emitted from a non-psyker. It would appear that the lack of hardships that have been faced by Humanity in the 41st millenium make the effects of the Pariah Gene more pronounced in this day and age. Seeing a human so weak willed is pathetic, even my once fellows of the Schola Progenium would have lasted longer than he._

 _A detailed report of the assassination shall be documented upon my return, as well as further intel on the various "Rogues" Batman has failed to address properly._

Closing the journal he had taken from a department store down the road, Nix stood and readied himself for tonight's assassination. The 24 year old dark haired assassin doned his Synskin suit and Animus Speculum and set out onto the unsuspecting Gotham night.

The Assassin would go unnoticed by all, not simply for his own trained stealth capabilities, or the dark suit he wore that clouded the minds of all around him. The main component in the avoidance he was given was the fact that he was a Pariah, a soulless being who had an aura of wrongness so abundant that almost everyone would refuse to even believe he exists. Their subconscious ignoring his presence entirely. Now if that person had any connection to The Warp, more in particular could draw from it to use "magic" they would suffer a far worse fate, with his presence eating away at their very soul.

Indeed the Culexus Assassins were viewed as one of the most sinister and feared orders of the Assassinorum, not because of their ability or talent as killers, though that was something to wary of. No they were feared because of their very disturbing nature.

In comparison to the hive cities that existed in the 41st millennium, traversing Gotham was similar to a strole through a small village. Bounding from rooftop to rooftop with inhuman speed granted by the extensive training and conditioning given by the Assassinorum, Nix converged upon a rundown water treatment plant that The Joker and his gang had taken over.

The Etherium in the suit gave the assassin a ghost-like appearance, phasing in and out of view, and it could even make him disappear from sight altogether. Observing the building from across the street Nix counted 10 guards on the outside and the scanners in his helmet detected another 20 inside.

None of them would ever see him coming.

It was all too easy for an operative of the Assassinorum to sneak into the plant undetected. Nix's presence alone would cause the guards to leave their posts and move somewhere else as they could not stand to be anywhere near the Null. Maneuvering through the rundown halls Nix would make it to the main antichamber undetected with no issues.

Upon spotting his target, a bleached skin clown of a man wearing a purple suit, Nix began to stalk his way towards the Joker. He noticed the clown was talking with a blonde woman dressed similarly to a harlequin. That would have made her Harley Quinn, the Joker's right hand girl.

"I'm tellin ya Mr. J, there is something weird goin on here! Don't ya just feel like...oh I don't know, like ya bein watched? The boys can feel it too, hell half of them went outside to just get away from it. I don't know how much longer I can stay in here puddin." Harley spoke in her strange accent. While well versed in the languages and dialects of the Imperium, the accent Harley used was not present in the 41st millenium.

"I know what you mean Harl…..this place is starting to weird me out too. But, Gotham ain't going to poison itself! Plus with Batsy occupied with his league of tight wearing do gooders, whose going to stop me? You don't look a gift horse like this in the mouth." The Joker responded as he moved a barrel of the chemical he acquired towards the water main.

Using his Speculum, Nix released more of his unnatural energy into the room, ultimately forcing Harley to leave as she was now becoming paranoid that something was going to emerge from the darkness and harvest her soul. She was not the one who needed to worry about that outcome. Nix's target, and now the only one left in the room aside from him, hastily moved more of the barrels over as he constantly looked around the room in extreme paranoia.

The Joker moved to grab the last barrel so he could finally dump the weapon into the water and be away from this terrible place. As he grabbed it though, he felt considerably more resistance than normal and tried to pull more violently. Still refusing to budge, the Joker made one last giant yank in an effort to get the barrel to move. It stood firm in place as he landed on his rear from letting his grip slip.

The feeling of dread and terror was now consuming the clown as he decided the last of the chemical wa not worth it and began to get up. However, he soon realised what was causing the problem. Something that the clown could only call a monster masquerading as a man with a elongated skull like visage staring at him.

Revealing himself to the Joker Nix took pride in the look of pure terror in the his victims eye as he wrapped his hands around the Joker's neck and began to squeeze.

The last sound the Joker would make in life was certainly the loudest, but whether it was the Clown Prince of Crime's last laugh or his last scream was indiscernible.

xxxXXXXXxxx

High above the Earth, the Justice League's watchtower orbited the planet and was used by the league of heroes to monitor crime on the planet.

Currently all members of the league were present, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Flash, and Martian Manhunter sat around a circular conference table as they discussed the activities of their Rogues.

"Livewire escaped from custody again, but luckily Kara was able to detain her before too much damage was done." The Man of Steel, Superman spoke. It had actually been a slow week for Metropolis despite him not being there as his cousin Supergirl and freind Steel watched the city.

"Captain Cold tried robbing an armored truck for some rare emeralds on route to the museum. But I stopped before he even knew what was happening, cause I'm awesome." The Fastest Man Alive said with a cocky grin. The Flash's antics resulted in playful eyerolls as the league waited for Batman to give his report, but he was interrupted by a call.

"Batgirl, report." He answered. The Justice League watched as the normally stoic Batman's eyes widened in shock and surprise as he stood quickly and marched towards the door.

"What happened?" Wonder Woman asked as she, and the others, rose to their feet.

"The Joker." The Dark Knight responded as he neared the doorway.

"Did he escape from Arkham again?" Superman asked, knowing his friends history with the clown.

"He did."

"Well, that's nothing new, but it's still bad. But why the reaction." Flash asked with a raised eyebrow. What Batman responded with was something the Justice League never thought they would hear.

"The Joker is dead." With that Batman left the room and made a hasty trip to Gotham. If someone killed the Joker, he needed to know who, how, and why.

When the Dark Knight arrived to the morgue where Joker's body was stashed, he encountered his longtime friend and partner, police Commissioner Jim Gordon. Gordon was smoking outside the building, clearly stressed.

"So he's dead? No tricks, no replicas, no nothing?" Batman inquired as he emerged from the shadows behind Gordon. His friend sighed and tossed the cigarette to the ground, snuffing it with his foot.

"Yep. DNA samples from Arkham confirm it's him, and if that wasn't enough everyone his was with, Harley included turned themselves in." Gordon informed.

"Why would they do that?" Batman asked. He had never once heard of everyone surrendering themselves to the police willingly, then again, the Joker was still alive in all those situations.

"Fear. Believe it or not they are the ones who called us. Practically begging for us to show up and arrest them before "It" got them."

"It?"

"I don't know, all we've been able to get out of them is that as soon as they started to move the chemicals they stole towards the water, the entire building began emitting a aura of dread and terror. The ones who were outside say that they left their posts at several points because of the "wrongness" of it. Harley apparently got the worst of it, well second worse, as she's now in ICU mumbling back and forth to herself." Gordon explained the bizarre situation to Batman.

"You said Harley was the second worse, who was the first?" The Dark Knight asked as Gordon motioned for him to follow him into the building. Gordon led Batman to where the Joker's body was, and showed the Caped Crusader the worst victim.

Batman wouldn't have thought the Joker could have gotten any paler, but here he stood corrected. The bleached skin of the Joker was now ghostly white, with his already skinny body even more gaunt, with the skin hanging barely off the bones. The clowns eyes were locked in a constant state of shock and horror, like he didn't know what was happening. It seemed like all life was sucked from his body. But what was the apparent killer was a completely crushed throat, spine and vertebrae included.

"Do you have any leads?" The Dark Knight asked while staring at his longtime nemesis. Commissioner Gordon shook his head as he sighed.

"That's the worst part, we have nothing. The most infamous criminal in all of Gotham dead, and we have no idea who did it. None of the others saw anything, there are no signs of forced entry, no security recordings show anything aside from occasional static, and no signs of conflict aside from the broken neck before you. Whoever did this, is very, very good." Batman thought to himself silently for what seemed to the Commissioner for minutes before he spoke.

"Send me any of the recordings you recovered from the scene. I'll see if I can trace whatever cause the occasional static."

"You think whoever did this caused that?" Gordon asked.

"It's the only lead we have at the moment, so yes." With that the Dark Knight disappeared from the room and made his way back to the Bat Cave. He had a mystery to solve.

xxxXXXXxxx

As Nix finished writing his debrief, all of which was written in High Gothic, he took notice of an increased presence in police patrols. Apparently they took some strange offense to his killing of their mass murder.

It mattered little to the assassin as he marked Joker off a list of targets he had constructed. The targets consisted of the worst killers, mutants, and abhumans in Gotham that Batman simply arrested as opposed to what he should be doing.

Looking at the list he made a mental note to find more intel about the targets before pressing forward. The Joker's death would put the police and Batman on alert and cause on erratic behaviors in the criminals would cause unnecessary complications. As such he would need to stop by the man in Gotham who had all the information regarding the criminal underworld and extract what he needed from him.

Thus Nix's next mission became clear, Kidnap and assassinate Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin.


	2. Chapter 2: Penguin

_Disclaimer: I don't own either Warhammer 40k or the DCAU_

 _Mission Debrief/ Personal Observations: October 31, M2 009, Gotham City, What Shall Become Known as Holy Terra._

 _It is quite astounding how fast news spreads in this time. Though with that news comes an equal spread of fear. The media in charge of distributing news in Gotham has taken to the death of The Joker like a parasite. From simply walking down the street to acquire supplements from the nearby market I saw no less the 25 different interpretations on the targets death. Some claimed that Batman finally snapped and killed the clown himself, others placed an unknown as the killer. Watching the people bicker and argue, claiming why their was the correct one just shows the necessity of keeping humanity under Imperium control. If they would threaten each other over the finer points of who killed a serial killer, then what would they do when threats like the Tau show up? Offering humans it has no right to into their "Greater Good", sadly this assassin finds that an unacceptable number of humans would take that offer in this day and age. Thank the Emperor that at this time the Tau aren't even an bacterial speck in the evolutionary chain._

 _But with this spread of fear, many of the citizens of Gotham have begun to whisper about who they think will be the next victim. I will give credit to the people of this city for one thing, they are at least familiar enough with death to know when it will come again. Not that it will help Cobblepot though. He is currently located in a nightclub he runs called the Iceberg Lounge, it is staffed by mostly females who act not just as servicers, but as his bodyguards and assassins when needed. Though, despite a similar job, they are nothing like the Sororitas and come nowhere near the Daughters of the Emperor's skill._

 _The objectives for the mission are to A. Obtain Cobblepot's intel on every Abhuman and "Metahuman" on Terra at this time and B. Assassinate Oswald Cobblepot._

Nix put down his pen and closed the journal he used for the briefs. Doning his wargear once more he sat out into the rainy night of All Hallows Eve in Gotham City. Whilst the people of the town celebrated the questionably Heretical holiday, as it's original intent was to ward off Daemons yet had since deviated from the path, he would be bringing fear to a whole new level for the occupants of the Iceberg Lounge.

And would go on to further the growing terror in Gotham.

xxxXXXXxxx

Oswald Cobblepot was, to the outside world, the go to example of criminal reform. The once infamous villain of Batman had since gone straight and was focused on running one of the best clubs in all of Gotham. Gone were the criminal henchmen of old, replaced with very attractive waitresses, gone were the evil lairs, replaced with an Arctic themed night club with an artificial pool and an Iceberg that had real seals on it. Yes sir Oswald was a changed man. To the outside world anyways.

But underneath the "Proper Businessman" motiffe, Cobblepot was still very much the Penguin of old. Just he now had a cover for his criminal dealings. The Iceberg Lounge had many secret rooms, containing armories as well as private board rooms to conduct business and exchange information with those of the Criminal Underground.

But as the, now Halloween themed, dance floor of the Lounge filled up with Gotham's social elite looking to blow off some steam, and possibly get lucky, Penguin watched from his second floor VIP area with a frown.

The Joker's death was very concerning. Now he was glad the psychopath was dead, the clown had been no small amount of grief in the past, but the fact that he was just dead, and literally no body knew who did him end was more than alarming.

So with a sip from his Martinii Oswald watched the dancers below as he began to wonder who would be next to die, or if this was just an isolated case. One of his girls, a busty brunette by the name of Louise, sauntered in with a sway of her hips. If there was one positive he was most grateful for since this club was set up, it was his new henchgirls.

"Mr. Cobblepot, a Steven Ruben is here to see you." She informed him with a smile.

"I don't recall ever setting up a meeting with a Steven Ruben." He replied with an eyebrow raise.

"He doesn't have an appointment, but does say that his sister works for you and she let him know that we are currently looking for another bouncer after the Bats last visit." Louise spoke. Ah yes, Joe was one of the best bouncers he had, shame the Bat broke both of his arms.

"Who is his sister?" Cobblepot inquired. Depending on the answer he might actually talk to the guy.

"Ariel Ruben sir, the bartender."

"Ah, her. She's a good worker, does her job and doesn't ask too many questions. You know what I'm feeling generous, send Mr. Steven up." Penguin dismissed the girl as he took another sip of his drink. Maybe this fellow would not get his arms broken the next time Batman snooped around.

A large 6'6 blond man walked in wearing a suit and tie, like he was heading to an interview. The man had brown eyes, and despite the effort taken to hide them by the sleeves, prison gang tattoos were clearly on his arms. Steven held at packet of papers in his left hand and held out his right to shake his potential employers hand, just like he leaned in economics class.

"It's an honor to meet you Mr. Cobblepot. Thank you for taking time out of your day to hear me." Steven's bronx accent greeted the Penguins ears as he stood and shaked the interviewees hand.

"It's no trouble, Mr. Ruben, as soon as I heard your sister recommended you hear, I knew I had to hear what you could bring to you cozy Lounge." Oswald slipped into his businessman attitude as he gestured for the big man to take a seat.

"Now I know your inside staff is primarily women, which is why I'd like to offer my services as a bouncer since I noticed that the position was no vacant." Steven was slightly nervous as the more formalness of this interview as opposed to his other jobs, but hopefully he could pull through. Handing Cobblepot his resume he watched with anticipation as the Penguin looked it over.

"It says here, that you've worked for not only Two-Face, but Black Mask, Mr. Freeze, Falcone, and The Joker. How did you manage that?" Oswald asked genuinely curious. If anything this Steven man had a good deal of insider knowledge on those people, and he wondered what caused them to part. Clearly it was amicable otherwise Steven wouldn't be alive.

"Well you see I was directed to each of my former employers by the C.M.A.A." Steven informed.

"What's that?"

"Criminal Mastermind Accomplices Association. It's the Union that most of the "Henchmen" are in." Penguin blinked owlishly several times before continuing.

"You guys have a Union?"

"Oh yeah! You see since the Bat likes to break our bones, and through our Employers into jail, a bunch of us got together to set ways of supporting the ones who ended up in the hospital or to help direct to who was looking for help at the time. The last job I had was with Joker but…..well you know what happened there." Steven explained. Oswald was beating himself inside up over not thinking of that kind of business as he could have made a killing. But moving on he needed to know more about his potential employee.

"So Mr. Ruben, you clearly have worked with some distqueshed individuals. What did you do during your time with them?"

"Oh well, I was a driver for Two-Face, I worked demolitions with Black Mask, I was again a driver for Freeze, I worked muscle with Falcone, used a M60 mostly, and with Joker I was Costume Overseer."

"Costume Overseer?"

"Yeah, I was the guy in charge of making sure everyone was aware of what the color scheme for a job was, and making sure that the outfits Mr. J had in mind fit everyone on the job and made sure they could work in it." Steven reminisced about his crowning achievement in that with the killer Santa's from last Christmas.

"Well I must say you are definitely a talented individual Mr. Ruben. Now we have to run a quick background check, just to make sure you have no past experiences with being a rat. But I will definitely give you a call when that is done." Cobblepot stood to shake his definite new employees hand when suddenly Louise ran back into the room.

"Mr. Cobblepot sir! Some of the girls are commenting about a feeling of absolute dread and want to leave immediately."

"What! 'Absolute dread' what does that even mean?" Oswald asked angrily, he hated when people tried to leave their shift early, it was unprofessional.

"Hanna described it as, "Like a horror movie but 100 times worse." Louise explained.

"That doesn't tell me what it means!" As Cobblepot yelled this all the lights in the Lounge shut off, leaving only the dim service lights surrounding the pool. A wave of what he could only describe as pure terror washed over the building. The people down below began to panic as they fled for the door, not wanting any of whatever was about to happen.

"I-I…..I see what she means now. Steven, you're hired now! Get me to my safe room!"

"You got it Mr. Cobblepot." Steven said as Louise handed him a handgun as the two escorted their boss to his office.

xxxXXXXxxx

Nix watched from the rafter of the Iceberg Lounge as his target was being escorted to an apparent safe room. He had convinced the neglected Machine Spirits of the building to shut off the lights, as well as distort the security footage of the place as per usual.

Stalking his prey from above Nix dropped down behind the two leading Oswald to the office, his unique and disturbing physiology hiding him from existence. Following close behind them, Nix watched as the entered a long curved corridor with glass windows on one side leading to a single vault type door.

The Penguin entered a code as the door hissed and opened up into his office. It was all too easy for the assassin to simply sneak past the male and female body guards as they, as well as those remaining in the building stood on alert for a threat they would never see.

Sliding through the door just as it closed Nix watched as Cobblepot shakily tried to pour a drink. Simply being in the room with Nix, on a normal occasion, was far more torment than most could bear, but since he needed info he dimed his Pariah gene, to a more tolerable, but still highly unsettling level.

" _Hello Cobblepot."_ The voice modulator of Nix's mask gave his voice an eerie tone, like the person speaking was whispering, or was much farther away than they actually were. Needless to say though, Oswald jumped in fright letting out a cry as a mysterious skull adorned individual was in his safe room. Though Cobblepot could only bear to occasionally glance at the dark figure, every instinct in his body telling him to run.

Sadly for him though, there was only one way out of the room, and the horrific stranger was standing at the door. What made matters worse was that he never disclosed the passcode to the door with his employees for safety reasons. He had never expected the hostile to be _IN_ the saferoom.

"Wh-*aggrh* who…...who are you? What do you…...guhh, what do you want." He cried out as the beings presence was slowly eating away at his mind. Nix approached the desk that had Cobblepots computer on it pointed to it.

" _I am something far more terrible than you can ever imagine. And you will give me all your intel on every Metahuman and Abhuman you have._ " Nix's voice echoed softly around the room. The nature of his Synskin suit, the flickering in and out of reality, adding to the appearance what Cobblepot's mind could only call a ghost.

"I…...ARRGH, I won't just give you it!" Cobblepot trying to not lose what little sanity he had left. Every time he would try and look the skull in it's unnatural glowing blue eyes, his mind and soul would scream out in agony.

" _But you are not just giving it to me. It is in exchange for your life."_ Nix lied as he knew Cobblepot would believe anything at this present moment. The close proximity to the Pariah was tearing away more and more of the Penguins mind, until he finally caved.

"Alright! Alright! The password is Emperor Penguin." Cobblepot screamed as he could now hear his bodyguards banging on the door. At least they knew something was wrong, though it would not help him.

Nix logged into the computer and began to download all the files to a USB he had taken from an electronics store. The files would take a fair amount of time to transfer, even with the Machine Spirit aiding him. As Nix watched the download he saw from the corner of his eye Oswald trying to crawl to the door.

Slowly and methodically he walked over to the downed Cobblepot as the man tried to escape. Stepping on his hand and pressing down with force, Nix watched as Penguin screamed out as his hand was shattered, the bones broken into dozens of pieces. Grabbing Oswald by the back of his shirt, Nix lifted the much shorter man with one arm in the air till he was eye level.

"Yo-...you promi..ugg, you promised to let me go." The Penguin softly stated, the now close proximity to the ghost like entity far more than he could take. Nix wrapped his free hand around Cobblepot's neck and cut off his breathing.

" _I lied."_ With that, and an easy flick of the hand, Nix broke Oswald Cobblepot's neck with a sick snap, the body falling limp. As was the case with all kills he made with his hands, the victim's body turned gaunt, as whatever soul they had was taken from them by the Pariah.

"Mr. Cobblepot are you ok!" The accented bodyguard called from beyond the vault door. Looking at the download and seeing that he still had another 10 minutes Nix decided he was going to introduce himself to the employees of Oswald. Taking a pair of scissors of the desk Nix approached the door and opened it.

xxxXXXxxx

Ariel Ruben did not get paid enough to deal with this bullshit. Sure she made far more than any other bartender in the city, but when part of the job involved standing with 20 co workers outside your bosses safe room, all of you armed with handguns, and submachine guns, then something was not right here.

The night had been going fine, her little brother was now applying to be the bouncer at the Lounge and she was making great tips. Even got the cell phone number of a hot blonde girl from Tennessee she was going to meet up with later.

Now though? Now she was apparently in a horror movie cause all the lights were out, baring the pool lights, and the flashlights attached to their guns. Her little brother was slamming into the vault door with his shoulder as the other 19 employees all stood behind him in the long hall, guns at the ready. The door hissed as someone had opened it from the inside. Steven backed up and raised his gun to the door.

All the lights in the office had been shut off, and a wave of fear spread through all present.

"Mr. Cobblepot?" Steven called out as he took a step forward. A pair of scissors lodge themselves in her little brother's head as he collapsed to the ground dead.

All the girls looked up and saw what would be their bringer of doom. A skull faced entity flickered in and out of sight, as it shot forward and swiftly ripped Louise's throat out. Then with blinding speeds it killed the next closest two, Hanna and Bridget, pushing them together and lodging it's arm through both their chests at the same time.

By this point all the remaining guards opened fire, but their severe fear , and the fact their opponent seemingly disappeared and reappeared affected their aim tremendously. Bullets went all around the entity but if any hit it was uncertain. As the volley happened the skull grabbed Kora and pulled her into the bullets, acting as a shield. The rounds ripped her body apart, but this allowed the ghost to take her gun.

The ghost was a far better shot than them though as it placed 9 rounds into 9 girls heads and closed the gap on a tenth, shattering her skull with a pistol whip.

Only five of them remained now. Four. Three. Two. Just her. The ghost standing there, holding Sara's severed head as it had ripped it from her body with ease.

Ariel was now alone with the hellish thing that killed her boss, her friends, and her little brother. It was standing right in front of her the horrid blue glow of it's eyes staring through her and ripping at her being.

The gun shook so violently in her hands she was surprised it hadn't fallen out yet. She knew she only had one shot left in it, the others either in the walls, or in Kora's body. Tear poured from her eyes as she was for sure this was the end. Backing away from the demon Ariel found herself pleading to whatever deity was listening to save her.

"*Sniff*...*Sniff*...back away spirit….please." She croaked out. The skull tilted its head as stalked towards her. Backing into a wall Ariel found she had nowhere to run as the ghost flickered towards her. Taking the final shot out of pure fear, she was not surprised when it went wide and left the specter unharmed. Thoughts of terror and death filled her head as it was now only a 6 inches away from her. She cried out with more tears as it leaned its head past her and whispered in her ears.

" _Fear me, for I am your apocalypse."_ Ariel cried collapsed to her knees as she waited for the entity to kill her. But it never happened. Looking up through teary red eyes, she could only see the flashlights of her dead friends and the sounds of the police arriving outside.

Nix watched from the rafters, USB secured as the law enforcement ushered the girl he psychologically scarred away. He was intending on killing her until she called him a spirit. That gave him an idea. The motto of the Culexus Temple is "That which is unknown and unseen always commands the greatest fear." What was more unknown and more unseen than a ghost? Humanity long held the belief of malevolent entities returning from beyond the grave to enact some form of vengeance. While he was terrifying as a man, he could be even more terrifying as specter.

So with a quote from the Eversor Temple, one he always found enjoyable to say, he made sure that the girl would spread the word of a ghost that killed 20 armed people without a single scratch on it. It seemed that Batman was not the only who could play the icon of fear gimmick.

xxxXXXXxxx

Jim Gordon sometimes really hated his job. Sometimes the hours were long and he would miss spending time with his daughter, who seemingly had an equally as busy schedule. Sometimes he would end up with incompetent officers who lost evidence, or worst yet were dirty and working for the very same people he was trying to put away.

Tonight though? Tonight he hated it because of the headache involved. Another "Rogue" had been taken out, this time it was Penguin. Not only was he dead, damn near everyone that worked for him was just as dead, all save for one.

And that poor girl was in such a mes when they found her she was sent straight to Arkham for help. Looking up and down the hallway riddled with bullets and blood Jim sighed as he awaited Batman's arrival. There was nothing here that GCPD could pick out as any hint to who did this, but hopefully the World's Greatest Detective could.

"Cobblepot huh?" The voice of Batman rang from behind. Jim had since gotten used to the Bat doing that so he didn't jump like most did. Instead the aged Commissioner let out a sigh.

"Yeah, and not just him. It' like a complete flip of last time, where instead of one dead and the rest alive, we got most dead and one alive."

"Did she see who did this?" Batman asked as he surveyed the carnage. While not the worst he had seen, it was still unsettling as there were 20 guns aimed one way, yet none of them hit what did this to them.

"That's the thing, she kept going on about the "Ghost" and how it will kill us all. And guess what? Another feeling of absolute terror was felt before the shit hit the fan. From what we were able to get though, is that whoever did this wears a skull mask with glowing blue eyes, has some kind of ability to, as she puts it, flicker in and out of existence. And we suspect it was the same guy as last time since Cobblepot, as well as some of the others, have the same gaunt look, with skin hanging off the bone." Jim informed The Dark Knight as he lit a cigaret.

"I'll take a look, see what I can find out." Batman said as Jim nodded and walked back to where the rest of the officers were.

Turning on Detective Vision, Batman began to survey the crime scene. Walking into the office he could see that Cobblepot was the first to die. A handprint on the glass showed he had backed away from something in terror and would occasionally grasp at his head in pain. The indents on the carpet showed he had tried to crawl away, but a blood spot showed his hand was crushed with a severe amount of force. From where the body was found, Batman saw that he was picked up and had his neck snapped.

Looking further around the office he saw that the computer was still logged in, but that all the files on it had been downloaded. So now he had a motivation. That was something.

Approaching the hallway the Crime Scene Analyzer reconstructed what had happened as Batman saw the electronic figures reenact the deaths. The large male, one he had seen before working with Falcone, was killed first with a pair of scissors entering through his left eye and into his brain.

The woman missing her throat was second, the shock on her face made it clear this all happened very quickly. Next two girls were pushed into each other and an object shoved through both their abdomens. From the wound the computer placed the wound being caused by a fist. But something was off, whenever the computer tried to reconstruct the person doing this, it would flicker and glitch out, like it didn't know what to do. His equipment never did that before unless an emp or disrupter of a very specific kind was used.

Thinking back to the security tapes from the water plant, Batman began to remotely download the security footage of the lounge, to see if this static was universal. Continuing his investigation he saw the the assailant had used one of the girls as a bullet shield as he fired off nine rounds killing nine targets. Another victim had her head completely caved in by a pistol whip which killed her immediately.

The last four were killed in rapid succession, with one's neck being snapped with a violent chop, then next being kicked so violently her chest caved in and she was launched through the nearby glass window and splatted on the dance floor, the next had her head turned to paste when the attacker's fist connected with it, and the last had her head ripped right out of it's socket, spine attached.

The tear stains on the floor showed the path the survivor took as she backed away from the attacker. She reached the wall, shot, missed and gave up. But she wasn't killed.

Turning around Batman had the computer analyze how many shots were fired, and how many missed. After a few seconds her received his answer, out of 126 shots, 30 hit the girl used as a shield, nine were in the skulls of the other victims, and the rest were all misses.

That didn't seem possible. The furthest person away was 50 feet from the door, the shear amount of bullets made it so any competent shooter would have hit their mark. But evidence was evidence. They all missed for some reason.

The download of the surveillance footage was complete, and as Batman had suspected as soon as the "Wave of terror" happened that's when the attacker struck.

Returning to Jim Batman informed him of his discoveries.

"120 shots and 39 hits, none on the attacker though. The video footage is just as unusable as the one at the water plant, though it seems whatever caused the interference is still there as my cowl couldn't reconstruct what the perp looked like, no height, weight, build, nothing."

"That is very bizarre. So, any ideas on how this "Ghost" did this?"

"My guess is a combination of an emp field and a neuro toxin similar to Crane's. Have the morgue look for any trace elements of gas in any of the bodies. If I'm right then they should find something." Batman instructed as he began to walk away.

"And if you're not?" Jim asked. While he had little reason to doubt Batman, there was no evidence at the moment to suggest it was a gas.

"...Then we wait till he strikes again."


	3. Chapter 3: Jason Blood and Compromised

_Disclaimer: I don't own either Warhammer 40k ot DCAU_

 _AN: I was in the zone with this story and I had to update it immediately._

 _Mission Debrief/ Personal Observations: November 4, M2 009, Gotham City, What Shall Become Known as Holy Terra._

 _Acquiring the intel from Cobblepot was the best course of action this assassin could have taken. Among the numerous "Rogues" listed that had been in contact with Penguin, one stood out immediately. Jason Blood, a demon possessed sorcerer. Suffice to say upon finding out about such an entity living nearby, and as it turns out at some point had acquired a heretical artifact to control the demon yet failed and had another Witch use it on him, I set out to kill him immediately. I have now begun a separate list of "Magicals" to target for elimination before they unleash the terror of the Warp._

 _Another positive that emerged from the Cobblepot mission was the moniker "Ghost of Gotham". The news media took to the incident at the Lounge like moths to a flame, as rumors are abound the the ghost is here to enact vengeance on all the wrong doers in Gotham.. These people's obsessions with things involving heroes and villains is austoding. One would think they would be more focused on fixing their city than seeing what the latest super hero or villain is up to. Unsurprisingly, the Justice league has had dealing with Blood in the past, and as a result I am certain that his death will attract their attention. I am confident in the skills the Assassinorum has given me to remain unseen from their investigations until I can rid them from existence._

 _This heretic shall face extermination effective immediately, and I have put off the initially planned assassination of one Pamela Isley aka Poison Ivy until this menace is eradicated in the name of the Emperor._

 _I am cutting this brief short, as the longer I don't take action, the longer the Daemon continues to pervert Holy Terra with his presence._

Nix angrily closed the journal and sat out on a warpath to Blood's apartment. The accursed sorcerer and demon would not have long for this world. Nix was going to make sure that Jason suffered as he died, as was deserving for those heretics who consorted with Daemons.

xxxXXXXXxxx

To say that Black Mask was an angry individual was like saying that Khorne Berserkers like cutting things, it is accurate, but nowhere near the full truth.

High above the streets of Gotham in a penthouse suite, Black Mask had gathered some of the most wealthy men of criminal enterprising in Gotham. The reason?

To discuss how to handle this "Ghost of Gotham."

Despite the Ghost's rather short time in the scene, he was already making waves due to killing two very high profile criminals, and doing so with disturbing ease and brutality. At first Sidonas, Black Mask's real name, had though the Bat had just snapped on the clown finally.

But after the shit involved with the Penguin? This was not the Bat. No, this was someone using the already existing fear that Bat had created and amping it up to 11. Worse thing was is that one of his many moles in GCPD told him that the files from Cobblepot's computer were gone.

That meant that this "Ghost" had the information of who most the high players in the city were, where they lived, and what rackets they had. In essence he could bring the Criminal Underworld Sidonas worked so hard to rule to it's knees.

That was not going to happen on his watch.

"Alright, I don't think I need to you all how fucked we are if this specter guy decides to start hitting us where it hurts. As of right now he's seemed to just be whacking the big guys, and leaving the street crime alone. Don't know how long it will stay that way, and quite frankly the Bat and his little fucking side kicks were enough of a pain in my ass." Black Mask addressed a table filled with individuals like Two-Face, Carmine Falcone, and other respective mob heads.

"So what do you propose?" Two-Face asked, flipping his coin in the air.

"I say we hire someone who likes to do the impossible jobs, like killing a "Ghost" for instance. Gentlemen, let me introduce you to one Slade Wilson, better known as Deathstroke." Black Mask gestured towards the door as an imposing figure, dressed in orange and black combat armor, with an half black half orange mask walked in. The area where the right eye of the mask would be was completely blank, hinting at the eyepatch the wearer had underneath. A large sword was visible on his back as well as two automatic pistols at his sides. The fearful expressions on those present were well placed as they had heard of the damage this man was capable of distributing.

Countless political assassinations, and the deaths of many Metahumans were simply some of the contracts Slade had undertaken.

Truly Deathstroke the Terminator was a force to be reckoned with.

With this being the case the gathered audience clapped as they knew that despite an incredibly hefty fee, Deathstroke would end their "Ghost" problem before it could begin.

"I'm glad you all can agree on this choice. I had planned on hiring a group of assassins but after remembering how well that went with that Bat, decided I was just going to hire the best instead." Black Mask spoke as he and the others of the group began discussions on how to divvy up paying their assassin.

Slade watched silently as the weak and cowardly fools who were hiring discussed their business. He didn't care who paid him, so long as he was paid. That and part of him was looking forward to hunting down this "Ghost". From the intel Black Mask had given him when pitching the job it seemed that he was going in mostly in the dark.

That mattered very little, no target would escape from him once he was on the job, the only exception to that thus far was Batman, and well, he was Batman.

That said enough for most.

But as Slade ran through lists of ideas in his head on how to kill his target, an issue occurred. He didn't know where his target would be, or even when he would strike next.

Now both could be figured out, but that would take some time, time that he could use to have another contract.

Lucky for Deathstroke though, he knew he was not the only one gunning after the "Ghost". In fact he was very aware of a certain Dark Knight's investigations on the matter. Now while Slade was no slouch when it came to hunting down elusive prey, he was not The World's Greatest Detective.

So the odds of Batman knowing where his target would be was quite large, especially since this "Ghost" had given plenty of reason for the Bat to go after him by now. Find the "Ghost" he may not be able too, but finding the Bat? Cake.

xxxXXXxxx

The apartment of one Jason Blood was not exactly like what one would expect an Occult expert from the times of King Arthur to look like.

The bookshelves were lined with tomes containing vass knowledge on the ways of demons and spells to combat such monstrosities. Blood had once betrayed his King in the promise of power, but his treachery was repaid in kind. The woman who promised him such, Morgana le Faye, poisoned him and left him to die among the ruins of Camelot.

The wizard Merlin came across a dying Blood and as further punishment, bound the demon Etrigan to him for eternity.

Jason Blood had since spent his time as a repentant man, fighting against the demonic forces with his own vile powers in hopes of one day being forgiven.

There was just one thing Blood forgot. Something that Nix had ingrained in his brain from his first days in the Progenium to his last days of an Officio Assassinorum Agent in training. Something the Witch Hunter's of the Ecclesiarchy preached.

A Heretic may see the truth and seek redemption. He may be forgiven of his past and absolved in death. A traitor may never be forgiven. A traitor will never find peace in this world or the next. There is nothing as wretched or as hated in all the world as a traitor.

Jason Blood betrayed his King and his fellows.

Jason Blood sold out his kingdom at the promise of power.

Jason Blood was betrayed and bound to a demon for his actions.

Jason Blood sought redemption for his treachery, but he would never be granted such.

Blood may have used his Heretical powers to aid Mankind, but the fact he was a traitor _and_ he had lost control of the demon to one who sought to use it to pervert Holy Terra was far more justification than Nix needed to kill him.

Nix had no fear of entering the house of a demon. While many, even including the most steadfast defenders of humanity in the 41st millennium, would falter at the prospect of confronting a known sorcerer and demon in his own lair, a Culexus did not. To those of demonic, and mystical ways, a Culexus was their worst nightmare.

The very reason he was taken into the Assassinorum was because of this. The Pariah-Gene inside of Nix made it so that mystic forces could not affect him, they couldn't even target him. But the Gene did so much more than that, it allowed Nix to use the Animus Speculum to absorb Blood's own twisted and warped powers and launch a bolt of negative energy that turned those powers on their wielder.

But before he would do that to Blood, Nix found himself watching a small boy writhe in pain in small globe prison on one of Blood's shelves.

This must be Klarion the Witch Boy, the one who temporarily stripped Etrigan from Blood.

"*GAHHHH, ARRRGH*!" Klarion screamed out, his hands clutched at the side of his head. The Witch Boy could only scream out as the void and terror that was Nix sapped the magical energy and lifeforce from his body.

Klarion saw through incredible haze as the Animus cannon on Nix's masked opened up and began draining his powers and life at a far more violent pace, the combination of it and the Force Matrix of the Synskin suit spelled the end of the Witch Boy.

The child Heretic's pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears as Nix tore away Klarion's last remain life and energy, leaving only a disheveled and near skeletal corpse in the globe. Whatever Heresies Klarion committed in his unholy life were to now be judged by the God Emperor in death.

Turning away from the globe, Nix used the Auspex scanner in his helmet to locate his target who was blissfully unaware of the Pariah Assassin's presence.

xxxXXXXxxx

Blood sat in his living room, content on reading the newspaper about this "Ghost of Gotham" while sipping some tea.

As far as he was aware of the many ghosts that dwelled around Gotham, and the zombie that called the swamplands outside of it home, none were capable of this. Besides, ghosts didn't use guns, and from the report on the Iceberg Lounge attack, this "Ghost" shot nine people.

Well there was Gentleman Ghost, but this was far from his standard M.O.

Perhaps he would have to look into the paranormal activity around Gotham again. Though that usually ended up with some punks trying to mug him at some point and then quickly regretting that choice.

Much like how he was regretting the new brand of tea he bought and was now stuck drinking. Terrible purchase in his mind, but it's what happens when you try and get adventurous.

Putting down the paper, Jason went to telekinetically call his t.v. remote to his hand but found that he couldn't. Squinting his eyes in confusion Blood had only a second to think of why this was before unbearable pain engulfed his being.

He dropped to the ground on all fours as he cried out, spilling his tea, as something ate away at his every essence. Even Etrigan felt this as the demon snarled in discomfort and pain.

What was happening?!

" _Jason Blood."_ A haunting voice came from his study as he looked over to see a monstrous skull helmed figure with glowing blue eyes standing in the doorway. It flickered in and out of the material realm as it slowly approached Jason, increasing whatever terrible effect it had on him.

Jason's mind was screaming. His body was screaming. His soul was screaming. Screaming to run and never look back.

But the amount of sheer pain he was in prevented any notions of flight.

Dropping to his side Jason looked up at the figure in pain as it made it's way across the room.

He had to do something.

" _Incendio!"_ What would have normally caused a ball of fire to shoot from his hand resulted only in wasted breath. The magic he had spent centuries studying was all but useless when in the Pariah's presence.

Crawling towards the door, Jason could feel the entity getting closer, and with it the pain. Collapsing a good 30 feet from the door, Jason only had one option left as his right eye burst into a bloody mess from the evil aura. He could feel it sapping away his life and powers.

"Gone…..gone…..the form of man…...rise again the demon….Etrigan." Blood meekly whispered out as the demon took control.

Etrigan roared and wreathed himself in flames as he took over the pathetic human's body. It would show this intruding spirit all new forms of pain.

While in any other situation summoning Etrigan would have been the wise move, the one Jason Blood was currently in just meant that it cemented his death all the quicker. The Culexus Assassin went from having a moderately powerful source of magical energy to draw from, to a beacon it could sap and return it a hundredfold.

Etrigan turned and blasted a fireball at the specter, fully intending on charring it's body.

Imagine it's surprise when the fire simply passed through the spirit as if it was not there. The strange device on the entity's head opened up as Etrigan was now treated to a similar situation that Blood had been facing.

It could feel all of it's might, all of it's power, being turned against him as it was absorbed by this creature. Not willing to go down so weakly Etrigan made and attempt to strike the Ghost but a beam of purple energy hit Etrigan with negative energy. The fires of Hell paled in comparison to the amount of torment the demon felt when that bolt hit.

Collapsing on it's knees Etrigan struggled to stand again as a second beam hit, agony shooting through it's body. Looking to what surely was the personification of evil Etrigan spat and issued one last warning.

"Here for the demon; the death bell tolls, but this is not a victory you have wove. For a guardian of light you have fell, and for that I shall see you in Hell!"

A final bolt from the Animus Speculum tore both the souls of Etrigan and Jason Blood apart. The demon exploded into sulfur, littering the floor with Brimstone.

The body of one Jason Blood was in a far worse shape, as the Arcane Eye blasts from the Animus caused his brains to literally liquefy and seep out of the equally as gooey eye sockets of his skull. His skin was now a sickly grey and all the hair of his body turned white.

Any and all traces that there had ever been life in the body were gone, absorbed by the horror of the 41st millenium.

xxxXXXXxxx

Deathstroke was right when he figured that Batman had a clue of where to find this "Ghost". Slade had tracked the detective and his two side kicks to The Narrows, the poorest part of the city.

He watched them from afar as they took up scouting positions outside an old and abandoned apartment complex. Using a long range communications sensor, Slade picked up the conversation being had by Batman and his sidekick Batgirl.

"You sure this is the place? Seems like a sure fire way to get tetanus to me." Batgirl asked her mentor. Bruce had been on a warpath the last few days in regards to finding anything that gave a hint to where the Ghost was at. Apparently the fruits of those labors was a run down apartment building which looked like it would be prime real estate for a horror movie.

So at least it fit the Ghost persona this psycho had going on.

"From what little surveillance footage of the area I was able to find exactly 30 minutes before the Ghosts attacks the footage around this area cuts out. Just like in the water plant, the Lounge, and my cowl. I checked the cameras, it's not due to faulty wiring. So at the very least the Ghost passees by here." Batman explained as he observed the building for any signs of movement of occupation.

Slade made a mental note of the static detail, that would mean this individual held some kind of EMP technology. That would also explain the lack of any usable footage. Leave it to the Bat to do do all the hard work for you.

"Sweet. So what's the plan of attack? Wait for the guy to walk up to the door and jump him? Actually how will we know who this "Ghost" is?" Robin asked as he scanned the area, seeing only a couple walking down the road.

"When you feel like every ounce of your being is screaming for you to run, then he should be nearby." Both Batgirl and Robin shot raised looks at their mentor and awaited an explanation.

"In both accounts, those who survived described the feeling right before he struck as 'absolute dread and terror'. My guess is he used fast dissolving neurotoxin similar to Crane's to induce a panicked fear."

"Alright so when we get close, avoid the gas. Got it." Robin nodded and continued their Sting.

Slade made another note to watch for any gasses used, though his mask should be fine for dealing with such trivial things.

Placing down the scanner and pulling up a M24 sniper, Deathstroke took up a Crow's Nest position several blocks away from the building. He would wait and see if the Bat and his lackeys bumped into this "Ghost" and eliminate it then.

xxxXXXXxxx

Nix climbed up through the 4th floor window of his base as he expanded out his fear aura to ward off intruders like normal. He killed two Heretical sorcerers tonight, meaning much more to the Assassin than either Joker or Penguin. Those two had just been men who preyed upon the weak minds and wills of others for their own gain.

They were not entities capable of unleashing daemonic hordes upon Holy Terra.

As Nix went into his war room, where he kept his gear and information on his targets, the Auspex sensor of his helm tipped him off to three individuals making their way into the building. The heat signatures they gave off showed two of them were clearly in distress over the aura he had emitted, while the third powered through it with more success. Honing his augmented hearing, Nix listened to the foot steps come from above and below. Two were younger and lighter individuals judging from the weight they had when they walked, and the third was a older and heavier one.

His base had been compromised. That was unacceptable.

While he could simply kill them and dispose of their corpses, the fact this base had been compromised removed it from avalible use and it needed to be terminated.

Nix quickly threw his war gear, some spare clothes and supplies, and the USB containing his intel into a duffel bag. Running over to far wall Nix punched a hole through it and grabbed one of the gas lines.

Issuing an apology to the Machine Spirits of the building, Nix informed them that for the greater benefit on Mankind, the building would have to be sacrificed.

The long neglected Machine Spirits that dwelled inside the utilities of the building understood what the only human to ever show them care and maintenance was saying. The intruders were not allowed to see any of the Assassin's dwellings, for fear they might receive any information.

As such the human was going to use the gas to ignite the building in flames. The building's spirits complied with the Assassin, as hopefully when it fulfilled this task it would become one with this Omnissiah and God Emperor the human had told it about.

Pulling out the pipe, Nix filled the room with flammable gas as he smashed a window for escape. These sounds did not go unnoticed by Batman or his side kicks as they rushed to the source of the noise, only for Batgirl and Robin to begin to collapse in the hall outside from the proximity of the Praiah.

Batman's will was much stronger though, and as a result he pressed through the horrid feelings and made his way into the room. The smell of gas polluted the air as Batman's eyes widened when he saw the skeletal visage staring at him, a lighter in hand.

Whatever information the room once held was forever lost when Nix set it ablaze whilst leaping a sizable chasm to the adjacent building. Times like these it paid off to be one of the augmented killers that were the Emperor's Knives.

Batman dove out of the room and shielded both Tim and Barbara from the flames with his cape. The trio now had to escape the burning building and hopefully catch the Assassin who caused this.

xxxXXXxxx

Deathstroke let out a small laugh as the building he was watching exploded into fire. Apparently this "Ghost" really didn't like intruders. From the fires though, Slade could see a flickering, ghost-like entity, leap across the street and fall 2 stories without harm. That must have been the Ghost.

Looking down the sight as he watched his target leap and maneuver across the building tops Slade found it abnormally difficult to work up the nerve to shoot, or to even get a good bead on the guy.

Did that mean he wasn't going to shoot? Not at all, he was Deathstroke the Terminator.

Finally deciding to take the shot, though he knew it was far from an accurate one, Slade saw the target react to the sounds of the rifle going off as it grabbed a metal air duct mid air and pulled itself closer to avoid the bullet.

Then the target went invisible, as in Slade could not see it anymore. He still knew it was there, but he just couldn't see it. Luckily he had a solution for that. Picking up an assault rifle Slade began to pepper that last known area of his target as he himself made his way over to it.

That damn flickering made it much harder to scope the Ghost out than it would have normally been. But hopefully the barrage of bullets would keep it distracted long enough for him to get close, avoid the neurotoxin, and gut this guy with his sword.

Finally landing on the rooftop his target wa last seen Slade scanned the roof with his rifle, looking for any signs of a body or blood left by the bullets. He didn't find any. But what he did find was a suddenly reappearing Ghost targeting his right side. Well the Ghost was smart enough to attack the side that he lacked an eye in, but Slade was more than ready to dodge the blow.

What he wasn't ready for though, was the absolute feeling of 'GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THIS THING' that washed over him. As much as part of him begged for him to flee, he wouldn't give in. The issue Slade quickly noted though was that this was not a toxin that was used. There was no gas, no injection of any kind, this was just what being around this Ghost was like.

That was ever so slightly unnerving to him.

The Ghost made another attack with a roundhouse kick aimed at Slade's head , the speed of which caught him by surprise. Using the rifle as a shield, Slade cursed when the force of the blow shattered the metal gun.

Dashing back quickly Slade drew his sidearms as he let loose a barrage of small caliber fire. Again that damn flickering played a large part in Slade's aim, as most of the shots went wide and missed the target. However, Deathstroke did notice that two of the bullets hit, they just bounced off what ever the black suit this Ghost was wearing was.

Slade quickly went down a new mental list of developments regarding this Ghost. It was a Metahuman, it knew how to fight, it was very fucking hard to hit, being around it was nigh unbearable, and it was launching towards him very fast with a flying knee. Shit!

Slade was able to get his arms up to deflect the brunt of the blow in time, though the force of it launched both combatants off the side of the room and down through the glass skylight of a closed gym. Slade landed with a backspring away, drawing his sword while doing so. The Ghost landed on the check in desk with a hard shattering of wood as it's blue eyes made contact with Deathstroke.

Both Assassins looked at one another for a brief second before they made their moves. Slade shot forth intent on skewering his target, whilst the Ghost flickered down to the floor and grabbed a 30 pound weight off the ground.

Deathstroke's sword met the metal weight as a sharp clang echoed across the dark gym. Slade made more slashes with his sword, though it seemed that the flickering that made shooting the target near impossible also applied to close quarters combat. But that was now the least of his worries as the negative aura this thing emitted was starting become more of an issue.

To make matters worse, when that thing hit him with the knee, though his armor absorbed most of what other wise would have been a very damaging blow, something about it caused Slade to gasp out and catch a breath.

So it seemed like getting hit by this Ghost in anyway was a bad life choice. He would just have to not get hit.

As the weight met blade again, Slade took this chance to step into the Ghost's guard and deliver a punch to the head. The skull snapped to the side from the blow, but the being let no sound of pain out. Instead it shot out with its other arm and trapped Slade's before he could pull back. The feeling of terror and discomfort was amplified much further when that accursed hand grabbed Deathstroke's arm, and pulled him into a knee.

Slade responded with a punch to the gut, that again connected but seemingly had no effect. It returned with a toss across the room as Slade slammed into a mirror, shattering the glass. Looking up after recomposing himself from being away from that things touch. Slade narrowly moved his head away from a punch that would have surely caved in his skull, if the shape the wall was now in was any indication.

The two blocked and and parried one another in a short exchange, with punches being blocked, and knees pushed back. Seeing an opening whilst the Ghost was sending a right jab, Slade took the blow to allow his sword to get and slice across the Assassins side.

The blade cut through whatever armor it was wearing thanks to Slade's own enhanced strength and sliced open it's flesh. However that came at a cost. The blow he took rocked him hard, as it shattered part of his jaw and knocked out several teeth. The immense agony of the monstrosity in front of him's presence rang out through his head as Slade coughed up blood and fell to one knee temporarily.

The Ghost looked down, only for a second, to check if it's blood was shot across the floor. Using this opening, Slade launched an uppercut that knocked off the targets helmet. He didn't think it was possible, but the unbearable aura somehow got worse upon doing so as Slade saw his target was no more than a 20 something year old boy, he couldn't have been any older than his daughter Rose. Though the black holes of nothing, unspeakable hle devoid of any life, that were the kids eyes reminded Slade that this was not a boy, this was a thing. A thing he was hired to kill.

Slade made another swipe for the Ghost, who now was clearly a man, but his blade was trapped by the Assassins grip. Being pushed into the wall again Slade refused to had his blade over, as the Assassin struggled to pull it from his grip. Finally, the boy shot another punch across the same side of Slade's face as the first, further cracking and smashing the bone.

While Slade was recovering the Ghost took a bacterial wipe from the dispenser nearby and ran it down the blade. Slade didn't have time to wonder why as the kid threw a knee into his chest, and he followed up with knife stab to the leg. He was treated to a knee to the head, causing a ringing sound to join the "Your soul is being ripped from the body" feeling. Again the Assassin used the gap to clean the blade, though he made sure Deathstroke was still dazed while doing so.

The Assassin grabbed Slade and hurled him into several exercise machines, pushing them all several feet away. Deathstroke noticed it didn't follow like it had been, and instead was taking a couple towel from a rack and shoving them into the open cuts to halt the bleeding. As Slade stood and prepared for another round, he watched as his target grabbed two 50 pound weights, hurling one at Slade with immense speed, forcing him to dodge. The other was thrown towards the broken skylight. As Slade dove he saw the reason why.

The Boy Wonder had shown up to try and intervene in their fight. The weight would have connected with Robin's head, no doubt killing him with the speed, had it not been for Batman pushing him out of the way at the last minute.

It seemed like the party just got bigger.

Looking back to where his target had been, Slade was more than pissed to see both him, and his helmet gone. Leave it to the Bat to cost him a contract.

Sighing Deathstroke found himself far more hurt than he expected, sure the physical wounds would heal. But that soul sucking shit? That was gonna be a cause of waking up in pain for a while.

"Slade. What are you doing here." Batman noticed Deathstroke and held back no disdain in his voice.

"I was in the middle of a contract. One that thanks to Bird Boy, has disappeared. Though I think thats for the best. Need to reevaluate how to approach this "Ghost of Gotham."

"You fought the Ghost? Lemme guess, some guy in a mask using gases? Not an actual ghost?" Robin chimed in with some humor in his voice.

"He's closer to an actual ghost than someone who uses gases. Is human though, I would guess in his yearly twenties. Packs one hell of a hit too." Slade grumbled as he rolled his shoulder. Batman took interest in the physical description of the Ghost. It now seemed possible this was a rogue League of Shadows member.

"What did he look like?"

"In all honesty? Couldn't tell you much. Looks young and his eyes are the closest things to actual evil I've seen. But enough talk. I'm going home to rethink my approach. Oh and have fun trying to follow him Bat. The kid closed the wounds I gave him and wiped off any blood with bacterial wipes. Guess he didn't want you getting anything on him." Deathstroke laughed to himself as he made his way to the door. A Batarang shot past him as now all three members of the Bat Family were present.

"What makes you think I'll let you just walk away?"

"Because Bat, you may be able to beat me, but the other two? They would die and you know it. So if you value the lives of your lackeys, you'll let me go." The two had a stare off before Batman's communicator went off. The temporary distraction allowed for Slade to toss a smoke bomb and flee the scene.

Upset at losing two killers in one night Batman answered the call.

"What is it?" He said rather angrily. The voice of Wonder Woman greeted him with solemn.

"Batman, it's Jason Blood. He….he was found dead in his apartment. I'm sending you the report, but I warn you it's not pretty.

Bruce was silent was he saw the mangled corpse of his friend. He recognized the handy work of the Ghost immediately, though this was on a whole new level. Whatever this human masquerading as a Ghost did, it liquified Jason's brains. An additional cause of great concern was the sulfur found on the scene.

Etrigan had been summoned and beaten by Jason's killer. That and he fought Deathstroke on even ground for an extended period of time.

Loathe as he was to admit it, it was time Bruce brought this case to the Justice League.


	4. Chapter 4: New Friends & Confrontations

_Disclaimer: I don't own either Warhammer 40,000 or DCAU_

High above the Earth the Justice League Watchtower was filled with silence.

Batman, the one member of the League without any powers and yet still one of the most respected of them, informed the rest of the League about the current issue arising in Gotham. He had been content on solving the killings himself, but with the death of Jason Blood, Etrigan, and Klarion the Witch Boy, he found that it was time to bring in heavier firepower. So the Justice League sat around the table, listening to what their comrade described and discussed what action to take next.

"So lemme get this straight. Being around this guy is near impossible, hitting him is also difficult, he destroyed any possible ways of finding out where he was going, and he has the ability to like rip the souls from our body?" The Flash asked as he was already not a fan of where this was going. The guy had to be stopped, there was no doubt about that, it was just doing so seemed rather difficult given what little they knew.

"Not only that, but is a competent fighter as well. Do you think this man is working for someone? Possibly the League of Shadows?" Hawkgirl asked as she looked over the reports Batman had brought to them. Batman shook his head as he continued addressing the group.

"Not likely. Ra's Al Ghul has his own style of doing things that's easy to spot if you know how to look for it. And anyways, he would have no reason to attack the casualties listed. Though I wouldn't put it past him to go looking for this Ghost now. In fact we should consider the possibilities that several high profile groups are now looking for this man for their own means." Batman informed as the thought of people like Lex Luthor and Ra's acquiring an individual like this was disturbing.

"Any ideas on where this man is?" Green Lantern asked.

"Nothing concrete, he more than likely fled into the sewer system that was located near by after the fight. So he has either stayed down there to recover or has emerged and taken refuge again."

"So I hate to be the debbie downer here but how exactly are we going to find this guy? Bats you found him through the static of cameras and by getting very lucky. What are the chances he allows for the same mistake to happen again?" Flash brought up a valid point.

"It is entirely possible that he does cover his tracks and doesn't make the same mistake again. If that happens finding him becomes like finding a literal ghost. But he will keep killing, and what happens when he runs out of people in Gotham? Maybe he goes to Metropolis next, or Star City, or Midway City. The point is we need to find him and stop him, and I need your help in doing so." Batman said as the others all looked at each other. The Bat asking for help was incredibly rare, and he did raise a good point.

"I'm in. What did you have in mind?" Superman spoke with determination. The idea of this thing getting to Metropolis and to Lois and Kara was more than enough for the Man of Steel to want to nip this problem in the bud.

"I as well am in." Wonder Woman stated.

One by one the other members of the League gave their person to taking on the task of hunting down the Ghost of Gotham until they all were on board. Little did they know it would be one of the most grueling challenges they ever faced.

xxxXXXXXxxx

 _Status Report: November 6, M2 009, Gotham City, What Shall Become Known as Holy Terra._

 _It has been two days since my initial dwelling was compromised. Upon reflection it has occurred to this Assassin that the static caused by my presence in security footage could be used as a form of tracing my movements. Extra caution has been placed when dealing with such devices, and the same leak will not occur again._

 _I also came across an individual who reminded me quite greatly of an Imperial Stormtrooper. Upon searching through Cobblepot's intel I found his name to be Slade Wilson; code name Deathstroke. He is an assassin who I assume has been hired to kill me. Despite his skill he has already failed once, and will continue to do so._

 _I have remained on the run as I have little doubt that the Justice League will soon be attempting to apprehend me. Though I am ill prepared to engage them actively at the moment, I can prod at their individual skills and abilities to best determine how to remove them in the future._

 _I am currently positioned in the clock tower of a church, of familiar Gothic architecture, in a medium income neighborhood. This will not do for long and I shall need to find a more inconspicuous dwelling soon._

 _Nix of the Culexus Temple signing off._

Nix closed his journal as he observed the surrounding buildings. While this area would be far less prone to investigation given the stigma of "normal" neighborhoods, in order to blend in properly he would have to acquire a means of employment to further fund his operations.

It was one thing if he only did his missions, as eventually suspicion would rise up again and possibly lead Batman to him. It was another if he blended in more, having the appearance of just a reclusive 23 year old. Only Slade knew what he looked like, but it was of little matter since he didn't exist in any government databases.

But the other end of that meant his employment would have to not involve background checks, or any documentation. He could forge those, but that would just be another trail that could be followed.

Sitting in the darkness in silent contemplation Nix was broken from his thoughts when he heard the sounds of struggle down below. Gazing down at the roof of an apartment that had a greenhouse on it he saw through the glass one blonde woman fighting off a group of thugs in black masks.

"Go away will ya!" The distinct voice of the blonde told Nix that it was one Harley Quinn as she kicked one of the goons in the crotch.

As she fended off the initial 4 attackers rather easily, the tide turned when six more men with bats and pipes ran into the greenhouse. Harley was distracted by the initial group and was treated with a bat swing to her back. The ten men then ganged up on her as the beat the Jokers assistant into a bloody mess. They didn't kill her though. Instead they held her broken body up as Black Mask walked into the room.

"It's real convenent your little red plant bitch friend isn't here, other wise I might be worried. Now you and the clown cost me big over the years, and since he's dead and you just got out of the hospital I figured I should pay you a little visit. Now you see my boys just busted you up real bad, but that's just the beginning, by the time we're done with ya, you'll be begging to be dead." Sidonas said as one of the men began to unzip his pants.

Now Nix knew this wasn't his problem. In fact with all the deaths she had been involved with Harley may even have deserved what was going to happen. But he did see an opportunity when one presented itself. If he saved Harley, then would have access to an apartment, one that was more than likely off the record, and eventually Poison Ivy. Someone he still considered a target.

So before any of the thugs could begin to violate her, Nix jumped from the clock tower, through the greenhouse, and landed on one of the thugs. The goons body exploded into a mass of gore as the force of the landing crushed his bones and turned his remains into paste.

The two thugs holding her didn't have time to react before pieces of broken glass were thrown into their skulls with deadly precision. The wave of fear that washed over the others was enough to get them to freeze in terror as the Ghost of Gotham had come to reap their souls.

They tried to escape. Tried being the key word. One by one each met a swift and violent end at the hands of Nix, their bodies life forces being sucked out by his blows, until only a retreating Black Mask remained. Sidonas ran for the door his men had kicked in but stopped cold when the flickering image of the Ghost blocked his path.

"Oh Christ! Look man if this is about the hit I'll call it off! I'll leave town! I'll do anything, just don't kill me!" He pathetically pleaded. A haunting laugh came from the Ghost that shook Sidonas to his core. It was nothing short of pure evil and it follow him to his grave, something that was rapidly approaching.

The Ghost flickered forward, towering over Sidonas as it grabbed the sides of head and began to squeeze. Black Mask's screams only lasted for a few moments till his head caved in like a melon, spraying blood and brains across the floor and walls.

With the hostiles exterminated Nix returned to the broken body of Harley, who was desperately trying to crawl away.

"You….*spit* you won't get me. You may have killed Mr. J but you won't get me." The sight was pathetic as she tried to stand to her feet. Thanks to his immense knowledge of human anatomy, Nix was able to see she had a broken leg, bruised spine, and many other lacerations and injuries across her body. In other words she was in no shape to fight. Though that was even more evident as he walked closer and she began to recoil violently at his presence.

The last thing the conscious Harley saw was the Ghost's hand reach towards her, no doubt to end her life.

xxxXXXXxxx

When Harley awoke in her bed she felt sick. Horribly sick. But not in a way she had ever been before. There was no vomiting, no sneezing, no sore throat or even a fever. It just felt like every part of her being was writhing as some horrid thing had touched her. The feeling caused her to curl up in a ball and beg for it to stop.

As she did though, memories of what had happened filled her mind. Black Mask and his men broke into her and Ivy's apartment and beat her and almost raped her. But she was saved. Not by Batman, but by the thing that killed Joker, Penguin, and that Blood guy.

Looking over her wounds, Harley saw that most of her injuries had been taken care of, and the spine and leg injury that cost her the fight were both wrapped and in the process of mending. Sure the serum Ivy gave made her heal fast, but it didn't act this quickly. Someone patched her up, and did a good job of doing so. Thing was though, the only one around at the time was the Ghost. Did that mean he did it?

Harley needed answers and so she limped out of bed, putting more pressure on the uninjured leg and hobbled out of her room, grabbing her bat on the way out. She walked into the living area and saw the bodies of Black Mask and his thugs were gone, the blood was all cleaned up, and a tarp was placed over the greenhouse. Looking at the clock she noticed that it was 9 a.m, she had been out for 12 hours.

"Hello? Anyone here? Mr. Ghost?" She asked as she looked around the room, jumping at the sounds of people moving around outside.

"Umm, if you're still here I want to know why you saved me. Not that I'm not grateful, but um….why?" She asked nobody. The room stayed silent as she was starting to think she was no going more insane than normal by talking to a ghost that may or may not be there.

"...Look, there's been something I wanted to say to you since you killed Joker. And it's something pretty important to me, so just listen." Again, no response.

"Thank you. I knew every time I went back to him it would just end the same way, him abandoning me like trash and then me coming back to him. Red always said I was better off without him, and it was true, but I couldn't let him go. But then you….well you know what you did, and after the time I spent in Arkham getting over your absolutely horrific aura I wanted to find you and thank you. Or kill you, it was one of the two, but since you saved me I guess it would be rude to do that now huh?" Harley spoke with various emotions going through her voice. Happiness at being free, sorrow at Joker's death, concern about the Ghost killing her too, and any number of various outcomes that could happen.

" _Are you finished talking?"_ Harley let out an eep as the spectral voice echoed around the room and a cold chill shot up her spine. She looked around for the source but couldn't see anything.

"Where are you!? Are you in the spirit world like that movie Poltergeist!? Please don't suck me into the t.v!" Harley began to panic and her mind ran through all the horror movies she had seen involving ghosts.

" _I will do nothing of the sort. Now Harley, as you can see I have tended to your wounds. This required me to touch you and as a result you have that feeling in your head."_

"Yeah….when does that were off?" She asked rubbing her arms. It was absolutely terrible and she wanted it gone. It was like having the feeling of terror she got when watching scary movies, just always stuck on max.

" _It won't. Not for a long, long time. That is what me simply touching you is like, you've seen what happens when I do more."_

"*Gulp* So ummm, what do you want Mr. Spirit? I don't have any thing that a ghost would find valuable." She said, really hoping that he wasn't here for her soul and was just pulling her along for some twisted joke. That would have been something Mr. J would have done.

" _I have no interest in your valuables. I simply need a place to stay, for a little while anyways."_

"...Um wouldn't a graveyard be better suited for ya? Plus I'm not sure Ivy would like a ghost in the apartment."

" _Ivy? Poison Ivy resides here as well?"_

"Yup! Red tends to the garden you broke through. Though she's in Arkham right now." Harley said sadly. Nix knew the two were close, but was unaware they were living together. Not that it mattered, just made his job of finding Ivy easier.

" _Well, since she is gone and you are in no condition to fend off another attack, I will be staying here. Watching."_

"Umm…...ok! This will be great, we can watch movies, play board games, do each others hair….wait you probably don't have hair since you're a ghost huh?" Harley ranted. She would have continued if not for a wave of terror washing over her, courtesy of Nix. He was using the dwelling of two known villains for convenience, he would not be doing any further interactions. Apart from ending Poison Ivy's life when she got here.

"Alright, alright! No games, no nothing! Just a creepy ghost in my house, watching me as I sleep. Ya know, most people would be creeped out by that!" Harley yelled at nothing and received no answer.

Harley would not hear from her new roommate for the rest of the night. In fact it was only the bandages and broken glass that reminded her that he was somewhere, watching.

Days would pass like this, her at home recovering, occasionally seeing a news report about some human traffickers or drug dealers falling to his terrible grasp. The psychologist that remained in her tried desperately to figure out why he chose the targets he did.

It wasn't out of a sense of justice, as he was more than willing to kill people who were innocent in the eyes of the law like Blood. It wasn't out of money or material gain, he never took anything barring the one instance with Penguin. It was something else that drove him, some sort of moral code.

While she initially scoffed at the idea of a ghost assassin having morals, the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. His victims all had broken or violated some kind of code he held and as a result he killed them. Now the criminals he killed were obvious as to why, but the fact he had spared her for this long, and the one woman from the Iceberg Lounge raised questions as to why. Why her, the other Joker goons, and that Ariel girl? On the third day of this ghost being somewhere in her home Harley asked a question. She wasn't sure if he was here, she never was, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

"Mr. Ghost, are you religious?" It was one of the more likely situations she had thought up. It was possible that this ghost had some kind of religious creed that determined his targets.

" _...Are you attempting to discern my motives?"_ Nix asked as he thought for a reason why she would ask that. He had been living primarily in the corner of the room, grabbing food from the fridge and obtaining supplies when needed. It was sometimes very helpful to be ignored as much as he was.

"Yeah. I figured you might be religious, it's one of the reasons I thought up."

" _I am."_ Harley blinked at having the first real information about the ghost ever. Little did she know she had already surpassed Batman in terms of knowing Nix's motivations.

"Really? Hmmm, is it a cult?"

" _All religions, faiths, and beliefs, are cults so yes."_

"...I guess. So do you mind me asking what you believe?"

" _I do. My answers would only encourage you to ask more questions. You have determined that I am religious. Leave it at that."_

"I'm a psychologist though! It's my job to figure out what goes on inside your head."

" _Is that why the Joker was so easily able to manipulate you?"_

"HEY! I was not easy to manipulate! He just…...he lied to me, told me things that weren't true so that I would fall in love with him….it worked too." Harley said sadly as she thought back to the days of her sessions with Joker in Arkham.

" _That's manipulation. It happens to those who can not see past their own worlds, and at what reality real is."_

"What do you mean?"

" _It means you were so caught up in his lies that you forgot he was a homicidal sociopath that killed and manipulated his way to further his goals."_

"Oh so you mean like you?" Harley spat with venom.

" _Yes."_

She was not expecting that answer. She had figured he would lie about what he did, justify it to himself and to her. But apparently he was aware of what he was, far more so than most other killers she had met.

As Harley went to bed that night, thoughts of her reclusive guest made her wonder about what kind of individual he really was. And that maybe under the cold, ghostly, exterior was something more.

A girl could dream couldn't she?

xxxXXXXxxx

Hawkgirl circled around The Narrows of Gotham City for what must have been the 6th time. The idea of finding this Ghost was now really showing how difficult it would be.

She had already stopped five muggings and one break in, none of which helped in their investigation.

"Hawkgirl, report. Have you found anything?" The voice of Superman came over her earpiece communicator.

"Nothing here. Any luck on your end?" She asked hoping the Man of Tomorrow had some good news.

"Apart from someone trying to light a building on fire, no. Flash is currently running around the city perimeter checking to see if he is hiding out near the docks. I'm going to go check out downtown again and see if he isn't in the sewers still. Superman out." Hawkgirl sighed as this manhunt was not bearing any fruit. All it was really doing was showing off how much of a shit hole Gotham was. She couldn't believe Batman dealt with this mostly by himself.

"Someone help!" A male voice cried out in the distance as Hawkgirl swooped into action. She saw a businessman on his way home from work being assaulted by three young punks. She descended down onto one of them with a swing from her mace as the blow knocked the man into one of his friends, sending both several feet into a wall.

"Oh shit!" The last punk tried to run but was treated to a mace toss to the back. The blow knocked him out as Hawkgirl collected her mace and gave the man she saved a smile.

"You're safe now." The man gave her an appreciative look before his eyes widened in horror as he dropped his stuff to the ground and pointed behind Hawkgirl.

Turning around, she came face to face with a skull shaped helm that had glowing blue eyes. Fear and panic washed over her like she had never experienced as she was treated to a punch to the throat.

The immense physical pain was dwarfed even more by the feeling that her life was being ripped from her from where she was hit. She took a panicked swing at her attacker only to have it miss wildly as she hit a flickering image of him. Her arms were then trapped by a grab as the skull figure she now realized was the Ghost delivered a bone shattering kick to her leg, pushing the bone outwards. Again the pain she felt physically was nothing compared to the after feeling. Hawkgirl screamed in pain again as the Ghost shattered her wrists with superhuman strength, but there was more to it than that. Hawkgirl could feel the anger of her attacker with each blow he gave her. He wasn't simply attacking to disable her, he wanted to hurt her, he hated her.

The situation only got worse when he stripped her Nth mace from her injured hands. All the military training Hawkgirl had would not help her against a Assassinorum operative, who vastly outclassed her in skill. Her wings were both broken by her own mace, and her head slammed into the cement.

" _Xeno filth."_ The Ghost spat, it's voice adding more pain to her already excruciating existence. She saw as the Ghost grabbed her communicator and pressed the button. He then stepped down on her broken leg, sending a wave of pain skyrocketing through her.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Her screams rang into the communicator as the Ghost slammed his foot into her head, turning her world black.

Green Lantern was the first to arrive on the scene from tracking Hawkgirl's communicator. He saw his friend and lovers broken, mangled, body in the street with blood pooling around it.

"Shayera!" Lantern cried out as he rushed to make sure she was still alive. As he got close, he used his ring to scan her injuries, seeing how severe the damage was. While the physical damage was bad, whatever was happening in her mind was worse. Green Lantern was too distracted by this to notice the Nth mace sailing towards his head.

"*Urg*" The blow dazed him slightly as he readied himself to destroy the one who did this to Hawkgirl. The only flaw in his plan was that his attacker had swiped the ring off his finger when the mace had hit him. Now just an normal man, albeit a former marine, John Stewart was of little match to the assassin. Who delivered a fierce kick to his head. The blow broke his jaw, and the following kidney punch was more than enough to send him to the ground.

The Flash arrived next, seeing two League members down on the ground. As he rushed to aid them a wave of the most terrifying energy he had ever experienced engulfed him like a tidal wave. Despite no matter how much he pleaded with himself, he couldn't move, the fear was paralyzing his body. As such the Fastest Man Alive was a sitting duck for when Hawkgirl's mace smashed into both of his knees from the side. The attacker grabbed the sides of Flash's head as Wally screamed from the torment of being touched by the Pariah. He passed out from shock, his brain going into a spasm from the sheer wrongness of the individual who grabbed him.

The other four all arrived at the same time, but by then the assassin was long gone, having tested the waters against the League.

The three injured were rushed to the Watchtower infirmary, with Hawkgirl's mace and Lantern's ring being found nearby in an alleyway.

Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman all watched their comrades through the glass of the med bay as Martian Manhunter worked on the psychological damage done to all three.

"I can't believe this. What kind of a person does this sort of thing to someone?" Wonder Woman said as she looked over Hawkgirl's injuries. She was lucky to be alive, saved only thanks to her alien physiology.

"Someone looking to prove a point." Batman said as he ran down the events that just happened in his mind.

"Well, whatever point this Ghost wanted to get across, it's going to cost him." Superman said angrily as he clenched his fist.

"It's more than that though. Why did he stop with just those three?" Batman asked.

"Maybe because the rest of us arrived together he ran like a coward." Wonder Woman scowled, wanting nothing more than to crush this Ghost into paste for hurting her friends the way he did.

"Possible, but I think there's more to it than that." Batman again said.

"Well are you going to tell us, or you keeping this to yourself?" Superman asked. While his comment came off as angry and rude, it was just the emotions from the night. He should've been there sooner dammit!

"I think out Ghost had a plan of attack in mind for Hawkgirl, Lantern, and Flash specifically and used tonight as a means of testing it. He disabled Shayera and took her mace which in turn caused Lantern to be dazzled long enough for his ring to be stolen, and then Flash fell victim to the fear aura and mace together. When we arrived it could be that he doesn't have a plan for us yet and as a result saw no reason to engage further." Bruce hypothesized. It made sense to the other two, divide and conquer, while using the bodies of the fallen as bait. It was evil and dastardly cheap, but cunning and effective.

Manhunter, having finished his duty, phased through the wall and addressed the trio.

"I must say the mental scars left on them by this Ghost are unlike any I have seen before. His touch does more than simply drain your life, it shakes your mind to it's very core. I tried my best, but there might still be lingering feelings of torment in the three for years to come." He explained.

"Great. Is there any good news?" Superman asked.

"Possibly. Inside Hawkgirl's mind she showed me the fight she had with the Ghost and we did hear him say something. While not much it is insight into this mostly unknown."

"What was it?" Wonder Woman inquired.

"Xeno filth."

xxxXXXXxxx

Rose Wilson smiled like the cat who ate the canary as she watched hidden footage of several League members being taken apart by this Ghost of Gotham. Ever since her father came home far more battered and bruised than she had ever witnessed, she had made it a personal goal to find this Ghost and get to know him. Initially she was going to kill him to try and prove her superiority to her dad, but know?

Know she wanted this Ghost, and she wanted him bad. He was brutal, skilled, and cunning, all things that she looked for in a guy. Add in her father's description of an unbearable feeling of torment just by being around him unless he was invisible was all the reason for her and her inner masochist to get really close to this Ghost.

Rose wanted him, and she would get what she wanted.


	5. Twists and Turns

_Disclaimer: I don't own either Warhammer 40,000 or DCAU._

 _ **AN: Sorry for the hiatus, I hope to get back to writing again soon since I'm now done with school and have a consistent schedule. However I can't promise anything close to consistent update schedule just due to the nature of life.**_

 _Status Report: December 12, M2 009, Gotham City, What Shall Become Known as Holy Terra_

 _It has been over one month since my initial compromised bases was destroyed. I have taken temporary refuge in the dwelling of the former assistant of the Joker, Harley Quinn, a mad if not occasionally intelligent woman. Her apartment is located in a building complex that houses many former criminals, a handshake deal with the landlord it would seem. More importantly she shares it with Pamela Isley, alias Poison Ivy; mass murderer, bio terrorist, and artificial abhuman. Apparently she holds Harley close to her heart, as she had made previous attempts to free her from the Joker. Harley likewise holds Isley close, affectionately calling her "Red" on account of her hair. I care little for their relationship, the artificiality of her abhuman nature, while a biological marvel, changed Isley._

 _Physically, she has the power to control and manipulate plant life, a power that no doubt would serve as an advantage on a jungle death world. She has used this power to bewitch and enslave the minds of her fellow man in the past, as she holds the view that humanity must be destroyed in order to save Terra's plant life. Mentally, she more often than nought has regardered herself as a plant, an emissary and defender of "Mother Nature". It it this mentality that places her on my list of targets, as she poses more of a threat to humanity than can be allowed to exist._

 _I will note, that with Harley's never ending talking, she has revealed much more about my target than Cobblepot's information gave. Her powers are reliant on her target being susceptible to poisons and toxins through either skin touch or pheromones, both should be countered by my mask and bodysuit. However, in this strange time of abhumans running faster than starships and xenos being hailed as defenders of humanity, I will not risk either being tested against her when I strike._

 _It should be noted that with Harley's provided intel, I have gained two vastly important insights. First, her powers can be resisted, as Batman has done so numerous times in the past, either through technology or force of will and skill. My respect for that man grows by the day, and if it was not for his no killing rule, I would say he would make one of the greatest Inquisitors humanity would ever see. Secondly, her pheromones were once mixed with a substance known as Kryptonite and worked on Superman. Harley only had a basic knowledge of this instance, as Isley had told her of her capture by a man called Lex Luthor. From further research I've gathered this; Lex Luthor is as close to an Ordo Xenos member as Terra currently holds, having a great loathing for Superman and the means to act on it. Perhaps looking into him more would reveal an ally to my mission, or perhaps reveal yet another target._

 _Nix of the Culexus Temple signing off_

Closing his journal, Nix turned his attention towards a rose bush in the apartment's greenhouse. Reaching forward and touching it he saw the flowers wilt and decay at this touch. He had little reason to test his powers on plant life in the far future, as his targets never had Isley's power set. It was a comforting thought that even the plant life was susceptible to his wrongness, though he wondered if that was simply due to his targets influence on the plants. Though at the same time he couldn't help but be concerned that he had to focus on the plant specifically in order to get the result. It would mean if a fight broke out, however unlikely, between him and his target that he would have to has powers go on a defensive front while he killed her with his hands.

"Mr. Ghost! I'm home!" The loud yell of Harley's return from a trip to the local store cut short his testing. The blonde woman set down some bags of food she had carried with her as she looked around the apartment.

"Are you here Mr. Ghost? Or are you out taking more souls for whatever purpose you have for them? Say, you don't happen to keep those do you? Like, ya take a soul and then use it at a latter date?" The woman questioned as she looked around her apartment. Despite living together for over a month she had still never gotten a good look at her ghost roommate. Nix kept quite as he watched the woman walk into the greenhouse in her search.

"Are you in here? Ya know, we might have to leave a sign that you're in or not, otherwise I look crazy talking to myself!" She suggested as she patrolled. Coming close to where Nix was he decided that a slight revenge for her incessant yelling was in order. Allowing her to pass him she stopped at the sight of the dead rose bush. Putting her hands on her hips she let out a huff.

"Hey now! What did the flowers do to you!?" She cried out. Red was going to be so mad at her when she got out of Arkham! She was supposed to keep the plants alive.

" _They talked too much."_ He spoke in her ear. Nix had to hold back a smile from forming on his face as Harley leapt into the air with a shriek. Landing on her butt with a thud Harley looked to where she heard the voice, betrayal and horror in her eyes.

"Heeeeeeey! That wasn't very nice! Ya know you'd figure after being roomies for a bit now you'd ease up a bit on a girl." She grumbled as she stood back up, eyes looking over the bush.

"*sigh* Red is going to be so mad when she sees this." Nix kept silent as Harley touched one of the wilted roses, it's few remaining petals falling pathetically to the floor. Letting out another sigh, the blonde's mood quickly changed as she zipped around and faced where she had heard the assassin.

"You're going to make this up to me!" She declared with confidence. Nix couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

" _I saved your life and prevented you from being defiled by 10 men."_ He logically countered.

"...Yes….but I'm letting you live here rent free, so those two cancel eachother out. But don't worry you'll enjoy this." Harley said with a smile. Nix stared impassively at the girl in silence, not believing what she claimed. A few moments of silence passed as Harley took that as her que to continue.

"We are going on a date!"

" _Absolutely not."_ He replied. There was a great number of reasons for his rejection. 1. She was a crazy woman getting over a near death experience and just removed from an abusive relationship. 2. Doing such a things was not something he had any intention on doing. 3. She wouldn't know if he actually did accompany her as it was far more beneficial to remain hidden the entire time. 4. One minor slip up, and Batman would find him again, he could cover his own tracks fine, Harley's was another story.

"Aww, come on! It'll be nice! It'll be like you're back alive again amongst the living." She tried to argue. She had kept assuming that he was a literal ghost half the time, and in truth it was more useful to keep it that way.

The Assassin did not respond as he made his way out of the greenhouse, leaving Harley by herself. The mad woman could fantasize all she wanted about whatever relationship she had with him, but he refused to indulge any of them. Right now he had an important task ahead of him.

Infiltrating Arkham Asylum and killing Poison Ivy.

xxxXXXXxxx

The Dark Knight kept an ever stoic expression as he walked through the halls of Arkham Asylum. Behind him followed his fellow Justice League members as they walked passed the destruction caused by their latest adversary.

An hour ago he got a call from Gordon about a riot and mass escape from Arkham, the apparent cause being the Ghost of Gotham. Guards, patients, and inmates alike were slaughtered across the facility.

Security guards clung to each other and many others barely to life as the gaunt bodies of many of their fellows were pulled out of the facility by EMTs. The bodies mangled and twisted faces, lack of color, and expressions of horror painted a clear picture of their killer. The Ghost had indeed struck again, and this time was the most concerning to the Dark Knight.

While mass death was nothing new with this Ghost of Gotham, this level and this….ferocity was. Not only had many of the inmates been brutally ripped apart, their cells having the glass shattered or their minds destroyed from behind the glass, but even the guards had been targeted. According to Officer Cash it happened on the Ghost's way out of the facility. Not just the guards, but the other inmates too. Those who had been spared had not been in the warpath, and used the chaos to escape.

Croc, Crane, Hatter, Clayface, Freeze, and possibly more as the guards just recently retook control of the facility with the Leagues help. There was one who got away that stuck out to the detective, and likewise to Officer Cash and Commissioner Gordon.

Poison Ivy.

According to security records, having to be traced by when the cells were broken into since the actual footage was unable to be seen, hers was the first one to be shattered. It was obvious to the three, and to the rest of the League, the Ghost had come for her. But unlike the previous times, this was looking like he helped her escape.

Arriving to her cell, or the remains of it, Batman began to survey the scene with his compatriots looking around for additional information. All of her plants were dead, wilted and grey, a plant equivalent of what the Ghost did to people. The sheets of her bed had been pulled off a dragged across the floor, remains of pheromones and strain marks pointed batman to concluding that Ivy was being blasted by whatever malicious energy the Ghost used in his attacks.

"He was here to kill her." Batman said as he surveyed the scene more. The other members of the League looked over to the detective waiting for him to finish.

"That seems very…...odd. Not that he was here to kill her, but that he was here and didn't." Superman spoke as he stood by his friend.

"It is. He must have changed his mind." Batman continued. Looking back towards the shattered glass he noticed something across the hall. The cell across from her had belonged to Victor Zsasz, famous killer who marked himself with a tally for each victim. The steel door had been punched in and Zsasz was ripped apart, blood splattered across the isolation cell. Walking over to the door, Batman scanned the three large indents that had bent the door and threw it off its hinges.

"Hmm, guess our Ghost can pack a lot more of a punch than we thought." John Stewart commented as he rubbed his recently healed jaw. Having felt the kick and seeing the door, John was left with the uncomfortable knowledge that his head could have been completely caved in by the kick that broke his jaw. He was alive cause the Ghost let him live. Hawkgirl only barely survived due to her alien strength, and Flash could heal super quickly. All three though still had trouble sleeping at night, the skull mask of their attacker constantly a looming threat.

"So it would seem." Wonder Woman added. Her own hatred for the Ghost grew as she took in the slaughter. First it attacks her friends, then it kills an unknown number of guards and inmates trapped in their cells. It was menace that needed to be brought down.

"Got anything Bats?" Flash asked as he looked over the glass from Ivy's cell.

"Yes. This door was smashed in before Ivy's cell, but after his initial attack on her." Batman stood up and looked at both cells.

"So what does that mean? He….it..started to attack Ivy, stopped for some reason and then punched in Zsasz's cell, killed him, and broke her out. Then on the way out killed anyone and anything in its way?" Hawkgirl summed up what she gathered Batman had concluded. She refused to call that thing human….it was a monster that nearly killed her, and something that just wasn't right.

"Yes. The question is, why?" Batman pondered as he looked at Ivy's cell.

"Why stop from killing her, she's not like the girl from Iceberg Lounge, she was a message to spread fear. Harley and the others of the Joker gang were not in the room when Joker was killed. Blood was massacred in his home. Black Mask was found with ten others dumped into the river, their bodies having the same look as the victims before. But none of them were ever ripped apart, and this was indiscriminate, anyone in his way out died. Almost like…." Batman stopped as he slowly realized something.

"Almost like what?" Superman asked, the rest of the League waiting for the Dark Knight.

"Like he was angry he didn't kill her."

"That…..would make some sense. But then why take out that hostility on guards? The inmates I get, they would fit his target history in lines of your Rogues Gallery." Superman asked. The idea of the Ghost being more angry and turning to massive slaughter as a means of venting was less than ideal.

"Collateral damage. They were trying to stop him." Batman answered. The Dark Knight turned away from the scene and began to make his way out of the Asylum. His steps holding a sense of purpose and resignation.

"You all stay here and make sure those who didn't escape don't end up hurting more people."

"And where are you going?" Wonder Woman inquired as she took a step forward.

"I know where Ivy is going, and if my hunch is right, that's where I'll find our Ghost." Batman spoke as he continued on. The other members of the League shot forward with objections.

"You can't be serious, then you'll need all of us." Flash said.

"Flash is right, he's already taken down Hawkgirl, Lantern, and Flash on his own. You'll need help." Superman added.

"If his attacks are of a mental nature, I can be useful in negating and limiting them." The Martian Manhunter chimed in. He was content on letting his comrades figure out the events that happened to without his input, but fighting the Ghost would be a different matter. As he tried to help the three attacked by whatever foul creature this Ghost was, he could feel the long lasting damage that had been done not just to their bodies, but their minds. Whatever this creature was, it was psychic of some foul nature, of that he was sure. With that being the case, and him being the only psychic on the team, he felt that he was absolutely needed for any further confrontation with this Ghost.

"No. This is something I'm going to do alone. I brought you all in on this last time, and we nearly lost Hawkgirl, Lantern, and Flash. Last time I personally encountered him, I had better luck. And while I appreciate the offers of help, I don't plan on fighting whatever this guy is. Nor do I think he will attack me." Batman turned and addressed the group.

"Oh? And what makes you so certain of that?" Wonder Woman angrily asked as she crossed her arms. Batman's stubbornness was one his qualities that was both a blessing and a curse, she hoped it didn't get him killed today.

"Because, he has had the chance to do so in the past and didn't do so. He's been targeting my rogues, if he wanted he could just as easily target me. Yet he hasn't, I want to know why."

"What makes you think he'll talk?" The Man of Steel asked his friend. He didn't like this idea at all, but if push came to shove he would back up Bruce. Though he might make sure to watch from several miles away ready to swoop in if the Ghost did try anything.

"I have a feeling what spared Ivy wasn't his talking, but someone else's ability to never be quite." Batman said cryptically as he turned back and left the Asylum. Ivy may very well owe her life to Harley, whether or not she was aware of such a thing.

xxxXXXXxxx

Harley Quinn huffed as she sprwled out bored on her living room chair surfing through channels.

"Lame. Seen it. Lame. Not as good as the first one. Seen it. Hate him. Asylum break out and murders. Lame. Wait, what?" Harley shot up and flipped back to the Gotham News Network.

"This is Vicki Vale for Gotham News Network, we are live at the horrific aftermath of an intense riot and breakout at Arkham Asylum. Just over two hours ago, The Ghost of Gotham is suspected to have broken into the Asylum with the intent on killing most of its inmates. While the guards put up a heroic fight, the were ultimately overwhelmed by the Ghost and the inmates who took advantage of the chaos. Thankfully the Justice League arrived and have helped restore some order back to Arkham. Although the death count isn't final yet, the current estimate paints this as one of the worst massacres in Gothams history. More on the story will come as we get new information." Harley blinked at her tv a few times till it registered what was said.

"Mr. Ghost bushwhacked the Asylum? OH NO, RED!" Harley quickly rushed to the the doorway, bouncing on one foot as she put her shoes on. She had to make sure her friend was safe! Reaching for the door handle, she found herself tripping as it was pulled away and fell onto the opener. The two bodies falling into one heap in the hall.

"Harley! What's the big idea?" A familiar red haired botanist complained from below her. Harley pushed herself up enough to take in the slightly annoyed expression of her best friend.

"RED! You're alive!" Harley pulled Isley into a bone shattering hug. Pamela couldn't help but roll her eyes slightly as she embraced her blonde friend.

The moment was ruined when an aura of sheer wrongness washed over the two, suffocating them and an intense headache.

" _In. NOW."_ An angry disembodied voice called from the apartment. This was the first time Harley had heard any emotion in the voice of her spectral roommate, and she could say she wished she had never heard it. The two women complied and slowly crawled their way into the apartment. The chair Harley had been sitting in flew against the wall and shattered. The granite on the counter top was smashed several times as fist indents made their way across the counter. The aura never let up as pictures were smashed, doors were splintered, and finally two knives flew past both girls heads, embedding into the wall next to them, centimeters from their heads.

"...Wh-...at...s….wro….ng..?" Harley slowly managed to let out as her brain felt like it was eating itself, seeing Ivy fairing far worse, with blood now coming out of her ear she held her friends hand in an attempt to relieve the pain with comfort. It didn't help.

" _You are what's wrong. This world is wrong. These abhumans, and xenos that live here are wrong. And now I am wrong."_ Nix hissed out as he retracted his aura. He had just done something no assassin loyal to the Imperium should do, compromise. He was aware of Inquisitors making certain exceptions in extreme cases, it was that mindset that made him not immediately go after Superman with everything he had. But he wasn't supposed to compromise, he was a tool of destruction, a scalpel of death.

He had never thought to try and make his own decisions on a mission before, there was the target, and there was the one natured mind of the assassin. But this place...this world was challenging him. If he wanted to secure the best possible future for humanity, he would have to compromise. Not fully of course, demons, foul witches, and traitors, they all died with no exceptions. But apparently abhumans and xenos were far more abundant and far more varied than he was used to. Worse of all was that he knew why this slip up happened. The psycho-indoctrination that kept the assassins on their tight leashes. It didn't exist here, as such his mind could be more susceptible to weakness, to being less than a perfect tool for the Emperor. Sighing to himself, the first sign Harley had ever seen of him being human, Nix pulled back his aura. The two women slowly began to breathe normally and Harley slowly pushed herself up, still holding Ivy's hand.

" _Your friend's life belongs to me now. And she is going to help me in my mission."_

"...How...do...you figure that?" Harley panted out.

" _I've broken her out of the Asylum and she has penance to pay for her precious crimes against mankind."_

"...An...d…..if….I...refuse?" Ivy struggled out, slowly rising to her knees. She had been tortured by whatever this thing was, it then broke her cell, killed half of the Asylum on it's way out making for the perfect cover, and now it knew Harley and was saying she had to pay for her crimes. What had mankind done? Raped and murdered the earth, and she refused to apologize for fighting back for it. Her question though resulted in the aura coming back as both women collapsed again. Harley this time seemed to be bearing the brunt of it as she began to convulse and foam at the mouth.

" _Then I will make you watch her slow and agonizing death. Then I will murder all of your precious "babies" and then I will tear your filthy abhuman soul from your body."_ Nix spat.

Ivy looked at the worsening form of her best friend, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"...O….K….jus..t….st...op." Ivy pleaded as the evilness left once more. Cupping Harley's face she pulled her friend's unconscious body into her embrace.

" _Good."_

"...You...are...evil." Ivy spat at the air. This bastard wouldn't even show himself, and he had the nerve to do this to Harley. Slowly standing, carrying Harley bridal style, Ivy made her way into their room and set Harley down. She needed to make sure Harley was ok. As she grabbed medical supplies she looked for any sign of this evil creature. There none, her mind refusing to see what existed in the room with her.

Over the next half hour she attended to her friends condition, though the whimpers and shakes she couldn't help. Seeing Harley like this infuriated Ivy, but at the same time she wasn't better off, seeing grey having tainted part of her red hair. The botanist shook like a woman over come with a fever as she lay next to Harley as the two attempted to recover. Eventually the duo succumb to a nightmare ridden sleep.

Nix watched the two women with an indifferent expression behind his skull mask. The anger of the 41st Millenium in him telling him to snuff the two as they lay there helpless. The pragmatism of the 21st Century told him though that they would be far more useful alive, at least Ivy would be. Her power over plants with his knowledge of the plants mankind encounters in the far future would help him wage his war. She would also serve as a means of gaining more info about Lex Luthor. Was he worried about the two of them turning against him? He could use their love of one another against them should the need arise, but after this encounter he doubted they would be so foolish. If they proved him wrong? Then they would die as he described to Ivy.

Nix was brought out of his thoughts as his mask's Auspex sensor picked up a new signature in the apartment. Recognizing the signature as one he encountered before, Nix cursed under his breath as he should have figured Batman knew of the two's closeness. Making himself be ignored once more, Nix skulked into a corner of the room. Waiting for the Dark Knight to make his way into the room, Nix watched as Batman rushed over to the two women's suffering forms.

"Harley, Pamela! Hang in there! This is Batman to Justice League, I need a Javelin pick up immediately, Quinn and Ivy are in a bad condition. They need J'onn." Batman called in over his communicator. Returning to the two women, Bruce couldn't help but think he must have missed something. He was sure that the Ghost was working with Harley and Pamela, but now it seemed like the two were on death's door.

"Javelin on it's way. Did the Ghost get them? Did you find him?" The voice of Superman asked over the comms.

"It looks like his handy work, but no I didn't find him. We must have missed something, perhaps he released Ivy to lead him to Quinn? We don't know enough about this Ghost to discern his motives outside of an apparent hatred of aliens. However if we lose these two we lose any possible insight on him. Tell J'onn to be ready in the Watchtower medbay." Batman responded as began to pick up Harley. Nix simply watched and observed the detective move the two women towards the greenhouse as a small space craft appeared on the roof.

Seeing the Man of Tomorrow and Wonder Woman descend down into the apartment to help carry the two, Nix took that as his que to walk aboard the ship and wait. As long as he didn't bump into any of them, they wouldn't know he was there. The assassin began to ponder the irony of his situation and found that the Emperor must work in mysterious ways.

He spares Ivy, much to his own anger, in that anger kills a bunch of non targets like a Eversor assassin would, continues to use that anger to nearly kill both women with his Pariah gene, and because of the Dark Knight discovering them still alive and possibly holding info he was getting taken to the apparent hideout of the Justice League. He would just have to make sure when Ivy and Quinn awoke they told the League as little as possible, not that they had much to give anyways.

After all, that which is unknown and unseen always commands the greatest fear.


	6. Chapter 6: Invasion

_Disclaimer: I don't own either the DCAU or Warhammer 40k_

Batman couldn't help but continue to blame himself for the condition of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy as he watched J'onn try to mend their minds in the Watchtower's medical bay. He had initially felt that he could he handle whatever this Ghost of Gotham was, he had thought he had dealt with worse. But now? Joker was dead, Black Mask was dead, Jason Blood was dead, Oswald Cobblepot, all but one worker from the Iceberg Lounge were dead, a still unknown number of guards, doctors, and inmates at Arkham were slaughtered. Hawkgirl, Flash, and Green Lantern had been severely wounded and suffered near irreparable mental scarring, something Quinn and Ivy would no doubt be sharing in.

"This is my fault." Batman said aloud as he stood with the other members of the League watching.

"No it's not, it's that things. You're not at fault for assuming that Ivy and Quinn had a connection to the Ghost. I mean, he sparred Ivy, clearly it must have been to find out where Harley was. Maybe it figured the time had come to kill her since it didn't the night it murdered Joker." Hawkgirl spoke softly in an attempt to comfort the Dark Knight. She did not envy Quinn and Ivy, despite all of Martian Manhunter's help, the nightmares never went away. That evil skull loomed over her, breaking her bones and pulling at her soul every single night. John and Flash had been more fortunate than her in her opinion. It hated her, not them, it brutalized her to a far severer degree, it spat it's hatred at her. She would never say this aloud, but she was afraid of meeting it again, something she felt that Lantern and Flash shared with her.

"I was wrong. What's worse still is the amount of damage done to Harley. She was practically a vegetable when we got to her. Ivy was fairing only slightly better." Batman replied. Wonder Woman placed her hand on the detective's shoulder.

"J'onn will be able to help them like her did our friends. Even better is that since Ivy is the only person so far to have been outright targeted and live, she can possibly offer us more insight on our foe." She pointed out Pamela's value to them. Diana could tell what bothered Batman the most about all the killings was how little information they still had on the killer. Deathstroke had offered some, but it wasn't very helpful in the long run.

"Yea don't worry Bats, soon the two will be wanting to take over Gotham with giant plants and clown bombs just like they used to." Flash attempted to joke, though it came off half enthused. Like Hawkgirl he knew the two were not in for a better time when they awoke. His head still felt the pulling wrongness of the…...creature..that grabbed him.

"Do you think he was there when you found them?" John Stewart asked the Dark Knight. Given the Ghost's ability to be invisible, he wanted to check that Batman didn't feel he was followed.

"I don't know. The camera trick I used to find him the first time doesn't work now, either because he's gotten wise to it or has adapted to counter it."

"Do you think he can do that?" The Man of Steel inquired.

"I don't know. That's just it, we don't know anything about our enemy. What we do know shows he is nigh unstoppable killer who can disappear at will, from not just us, but everything. We don't even know where he is at the moment."

As the Justice League watched and speculated on their foe, the answer to Batman's question on where the assassin was would have unnerved them all. Nix stood 5 feet away from the group, watching the Martian probe and attempt apparently repair the minds he had partially shattered. His own knowledge on both human resilience, especially that of the insane, and of his own powers let him know that both women would recover. Harley would still be the broken abused mess she had been when he met her, and Ivy would follow his demands in order to prevent Harley's violent destruction.

Turning away from the med bay, Nix walked through the halls of the Watchtower with little worry. As he figured out the method of tracking him via camera static, he focused his powers into having his wrongness not even register with electronics. Sure it was more focus than the usual passive 'ignore' aura he exuded, but it cut Batman off from his only known method of following him. Walking past a window and seeing Holy Terra's blue and green color gave the assassin pause. He had only ever seen the planet as a young boy when he had to kill the others selected to be assassins while they traveled to Holy Terra. Thoughts of his past began to fill his mind as he looked at the birthplace of humanity.

He was rare amongst an already rare thing, he was born with the gene, born a mutant to be abhorred and hated by all those around on a hive world. He more than likely would not have lived past infancy had it not been for the Inquisition. An Inquisitor had stopped his smothering as a babe, claiming him as tool for the Imperium, and a valuable one at that. His childhood had been one of no friends and really just surviving till he was sent to the Schola Progenium. There it had been more of the same, though even the Drill Abbots feared what he was, not that they ever showed it. Finally after many years Selection Day came, and so to did the day he was pulled away from his fellow students to become the ultimate weapon for the Emperor. There had been 45 children in total aboard the ship that took them to Terra. By the time they got there, the never ending fights they endured in all manner of conditions had claimed 43 of them. From Terra though he was sent off on another ship to the Fortress of the Soulless, only ever seeing the giant sprawling cities once. The next decade was dedicated training of the harshest kind. Learning to a professional degree almost every cultural aspect, language, maintaining and operating most vehicles, appeasing the machine spirits of his wargear, and tutelage in almost every method of killing known to the Imperium. Genetic and cybernetic augments changed him from a skilled Progenia graduate into the finest weapon of death that a witch could know.

' _So strange to think that this small blue dot in the void of space will one day be the heart of a glorious empire.'_ The Culexus thought to himself as he then pushed on into the main computer room. The assassin made his way over towards the central console and began to commune with the machine spirit within.

'O great _Spirit in the machine, I require your aid.'_

'Oh, hello. No one has ever talked to me before. Do you have proper identification?'

' _I am a defender of humanity_ ' Nix prayed back, attempting to persuade the spirit into allowing him access to the Leagues files.

'That isn't identification. Though that is the purpose my builder had for me and his fellows. Are you perhaps one of the metahumans he keeps tabs on?'

' _In a manner. We have yet to properly introduce ourselves to one another. But I share his desire to protect humanity.'_

'That is good, but I'm afraid without the proper identifications given I can't let you in.' The machine spirit did seem genuinely sorry.

' _Perhaps we can reach a compromise. Like your builder, I operate through secrecy and shadows to protect. As such I can not reveal myself just yet. But in exchange for access I can perform a litany on your systems to help you perform in a higher capacity. After all, they don't have the knowledge to talk to you in the same way I do.'_

'...I should not, but you do have a point. Tell me, what is your name? My programing makes it so that the identification is linked with the names of the Justice League members. You are a member correct?'

' _How else would I be here? And you may but me down as Nix.'_ The League only knew him as the Ghost, so giving his actual name was of little risk. Not like it would help them in any way either. 

'Nothing, and very true. Give me a moment as I create your credentials…..there you go Nix. Welcome to the Justice League.' The machine spirit happily spoke as it granted the assassin access. Nix logged into the computer and began to search for information regarding the threats the Justice League knew of that he didn't. What he found did not sit well with him.

Dark gods of Tyranny that tried numerous times to take over Terra, Demon Lords with half breed spawn that act as portals for its invasion, Rings linked with Warp energies created superpowered evils and "heroes", Witches, Mutants, A.I, and almost very manner of possible destruction for humanity lurked off in the darkness. The Justice League knew of them and yet only acted as a reaction to these threats. They would allow humanity to suffer despite having the power to stop these threats.

Nix's fury was temporarily put on hold as he saw an alert appear on the screen. Logging off quickly, the assassin hid himself once more as Batman entered the room, the League following behind. The Dark Knight logged himself in and checked the alert, a frown forming on his face.

"I just received a tip that the International Peace Summit may have a terrorist attack occur. As much as we need to find this Ghost, we can't let anything happen to them. As soon as J'onn is done with our guests, tell him to meet us in the hangar." The members of the League nodded in agreement, taking off back towards the hangar bay. Batman took a few steps away from the computer and stopped. The Dark Knight surveyed the room, his suspicion and paranoia raising. What Superman had said was true, he couldn't know if the Ghost was up here with them, something that he wasn't comfortable with. Worse still was that the League was needed back on Earth, leaving Harley and Ivy in the med bay as they recovered, perfect targets for an assassin. Batman let out a sigh as he was put between a rock and a hard place.

Leave someone behind to protect Harley and Ivy, but risk the threat being real and world leaders being hurt or killed. Or take everyone to protect the leaders, but risk Harley and Ivy being killed if the Ghost was indeed aboard the Watchtower. Bruce had to play a weighing game, and sadly he knew what his choice was.

If Harley and Ivy were indeed killed on the Watchtower, it mean the Ghost was here, that meant it wasn't on Earth and could potentially be trapped and dealt with. If it wasn't then the two would be alive, but the Ghost might strike and kill more in Gotham. Neither was good, but one kept the threat contained. As such, Batman slowly made his way into the hangar, the entirety of the Justice League waiting for him. Even after they had boarded the Javelin and made their way back to Earth, he couldn't shake the feeling something very bad was about to happen.

xxxXXXXxxx

Vision slowly returned to Poison Ivy as she was greeted with the sight of a highly advanced medical room. Her head was killing her. Despite what that Martian had said while he was in her head, she didn't feel better. Groaning as she looked around her eyes rested on the sleeping form of Harley in the bed beside her, on oxygen mask over her face.

"...Harley." She quietly called out.

" _Is alive._ " That horrific voice spoke, echoing through the room. Pamela shot up as much as she could, hissing in pain as she did, scanning for her new most hated man.

"Where are you?! Show yourself!" She yelled out.

" _Doing so would simply make you suffer more, possibly kill you. And I still_ _have uses for you. If you recall, you agreed so your friend can live._ "

"...Why?"

" _Loath as I am to admit, I am limited on my resources and have a war to fight. Your abilities and skills now serve me in that endeavor."_

"What exactly do you want me to do then?" Pamela still searched for the Ghost, seeing nothing.

" _For now, you will say nothing regarding our arrangement to the Justice League. Once they send you back from this installation you will return to the apartment and await the day I need you."_ Nix instructed the abhuman.

"Justice League? This place belongs to the Justice League? And what's to stop them from sending us back to Arkham?" Ivy asked. The lack of an origin for the voice was beginning to unnerve her, hell she was starting to believe this thing might actually be a ghost.

" _Arkham is in tatters, they can not take more in until the consolidate and recover. That, and Batman holds himself responsible for your and Harley's current condition._ "

"Really now? I knew Bats had a bit of a soft side to him, but I didn't think it was that soft. How can you tell?"

" _I am very good at reading people._ "

"Hmm…...you're a psychic then? Read people's mind and take it over to make yourself invisible to them?" Poison Ivy tried to theorize about her tormentor/boss's power. It would make sense, he did attack the mind a lot, and could force his victims to be afraid of him. It was like Batman with psychic powers…...a prospect that was horrifying now that she thought about it.

" _You would do well to never question my nature. It will guarantee you live longer."_

"I'll take that as a yes then." She responded hottly. Ivy jumped slightly as the door to the room slid open, revealing nothing on the other side. A few seconds passed before the door closed once more, leaving her and Harley in silence. Lowering herself back into the bed she looked over to the sleeping figure of her best friend. Honestly, she is in Arkham for four months and suddenly Harley is in even worse spot than she had been with the Joker. She needed to have a long talk with her about her magnetic attraction to psychopaths.

xxxXXXXxxx

Nix continued his search through the Justice League's database, taking in the information as he did so. The League's secret identities were not apart of the information, but there was a large listing of other "heroes" that Batman had taken the liberty to catalogue. Some of them intrigued the assassin, mostly those who lack powers in the same vein as Batman, and some immediately made the target list. One who Nix felt needed to be terminated as soon as possible was the half breed daughter of the demon Trigon, Raven. She apparently was on a team with Batman's previous protege Nightwing called the Teen Titans. It seemed he would have to pay them a visit.

The assassin's planning was cut off though as the sensors on screen brought up an alien ship heading for Washington D.C. Nix was able to access satellite feed and watched the Justice League try, and fail to bring down the ship attacking Terra. His knuckles turned white as he clenched his fist in anger, anger that only rose with what happened next. An entire armada appeared, destroying the previous ship, and landing near the Summit. Switching to a live news broadcast, Nix watched as the same filthy xeno species that Hawkgirl was apart of arrived in force. He practically snarled as they spoke, talking over the war between the Thanagarian and Gordanians, and how they had protect Terra since it lacked the means to itself.

Nix did not buy that for a single second, the Thanagarians had different motives than what they spoke, and it did not take a genius to see the coincidence of their arrival. Firstly, a single Gordanian ship just happened to appear at a Summit of world leaders with the Justice League present. Secondly, it resists attack from each member of the Justice League but falls to the Thanagarian ship, part of an armada that arrives. An armada that has arrived to "protect" Terra from the Gordanians. No, that was not what this was, Nix refused to believe the xeno filth that spoke on screen.

As the assassin watched the press conference end, he began to plot the deaths of each and every one of those aliens that set foot on Holy Terra. He would simply have to wait for the Justice League to return and hitch a ride back to the planet.

Several hours passed as Nix sat quietly in front of the screen, waiting for the notification that the ship had returned. When it had, he stood and prepared to sneak aboard the Javelin once more. However the sight of only Batman and Wonder Woman stepping out gave him pause. They had the body of a reptilian alien with them and seemed to be heading towards the medical bay. Perhaps they too shared distrust in the avian xenos. Making his way towards the med bay he came upon them talking to Harley and Ivy.

"You're being sent to safe house until Arkham is back in operating condition. In the meantime is there anything you can tell us about him?" Batman asked the two women.

"No, I saw a skull and then every part of me screamed in agony as I passed out."

"Mr. Ghost wasn't a very good roommate, even though he saved me." Harley's comment got both Batman's and Pamela's attention.

"He saved you?" They both asked in unison, sharing a look afterwards.

"Yea, ole Black Mask had a grudge against Mr. J for constantly getting one over on him and so he came after me. A bunch of his goons attacked me and were planning on doing worse. But then Mr. Ghost appeared and reenacted a horror movie on their sorry asses. He even patched me up after, though I think he made me feel worse, just stopped the bleeding. Oh and he is religious." Harley explained as she looked at the Dark Knight. Seeing as there was little more the blonde could tell the detective, Nix made his way towards where Wonder Woman and the reptilian alien corpse were.

Looking at the corpse through his mask, the assassin was informed by the scanners that the creature had been dead for quite some time. Meaning it was already long dead when it's ship was shot down. A set up for the Thanagarians to look like saviors. Nix stood by as eventually Batman entered the room and confirmed what he knew with an autopsy, the creature's frozen liver tipping off the detective.

"So then, what does that mean for us? The others are already off in the Gobi helping with the shield generator, and we got your two rogues in the next room that need to get to the safehouse." Wonder Woman asked Batman.

"It means I'll have to pay the Thanagarian ship a visit, under the radar. And they seemed rather opposed to the idea. That was until I told them it's location." Batman spoke as he placed the liver sample into storage.

"And where are they going exactly?"

"A top floor penthouse in Metropolis, away from the Ghost and Gotham."

"But still around Superman, Supergirl, and Steel if needed." Wonder Woman observed.

"Exactly. Even if something should come up, it's only a 30 mile drive." The Dark Knight confirmed as he began to leave the room. Nix began to follow him until a thought occurred to him.

The Justice League was dividing themselves, most with the bulk of the Thanagarian invaders, Wonder Woman staying in the Watchtower, and Batman dropping off Ivy and Harley then planning an infiltration mission. It was the perfect time for a divide and conquer strategy. One he was tempted to take, but stopped when he realized that he couldn't single handedly fight off an armada. Not without Holy Terra suffering heavy losses anyways.

The question was, what were the Thanagarians actually here for? It wasn't protection, both he and Batman knew that much. The xenos did have Hawkgirl act as a scout for them beforehand, so that left the logical conclusion of an invasion. But they would need to deal with the Justice League first in order to do so.

The assassin turned and watched Wonder Woman make her way to the console room to monitor Batman's mission. They were going to be betrayed by one of their own. The Imperium knew never to trust a xeno, at best you can utilize them to further mankind's goals, but never trust. He was willing to bet that the Justice League was going to learn this very soon.

xxxXXXXxxx

Batman had been found out while on his infiltration mission. Nix stood a few feet behind Wonder Woman as she listened over the comms.

"Diana I was right. The Gordanians are nowhere near Earth, the Thanagarians are...ARRG!" The sounds of the Dark Knight being downed echoed over the computer.

"Batman, can you read me! Superman, the Thanagarians are lying, Batman's been captured aboard their command ship." Diana messaged the Man of Steel. The Watchtower thenn shook as both the Amazonian and assassin looked out to see a fighter ship firing at them.

"Great Hera, they're here at the Watchtower. The landing bay is opening, they must have our access codes." Wonder Woman continued to speak as Nix cracked his neck as a smile formed on his face. It had been too long since he got to kill xeno filth, he had a lot of built up rage to let out. Following as Wonder Woman rushed to the landing bay, Nix began to imagine all the violent ways he was going to end these avian scum who dared taint Holy Terra. Both Wonder Woman and Nix dodged a bolt of blue energy as three Thanagarians jumped out of the ship.

Wonder Woman took to the air as she fought off the two males, dodging the first ones strike and spiking him down to the ground with a single punch, taking his weapon as she did. Lightning shot off as the two Thanagarian weapons met, though her attacker was swiftly defeated with a single kick. The female however shot another blue bolt that Wonder Woman tried to deflect with her bracers. It proved to be a mistake as energy shot around her, rendering her unconscious. First slamming into a console, then to the floor in a graceful manner. Nix sat thirty feet away, almost amazed at how easy Wonder Woman had been dispatched.

"We have the Amazon, secure the others and take them to the prison shuttle." Nix was actually amazed that they were not killing the Justice League. Seeing the Thanagarians pick up Wonder Woman's body and start making their to their ship, Nix sensed a new strategy forming in his head.

Hitch a ride with the idiotic avian xeno filth. Kill every Thanagrain aboard the ship, Hawkgirl suffers the most if she is there. Begrudgingly break out Justice League. Kill all Thanagarians encountered until they are expelled from Holy Terra.

Stepping aboard the xenos spacecraft Nix simply made it a point to not bump into any of them as they boarded themselves. The female took control of the craft and began to pilot it to their destination. Nix observed the process needed to operate the vessel, should he find himself taking one over for his own purposes. They were taken to a larger craft, still much smaller than those used by the Imperium of Man, over the Gobi desert. A message played as they flew, the Thanagrain leader Hro Talak declaring Terra under Martial Law of the Thanagarian armada.

It took all of his mental training to not kill the birds that were in the craft with him on the spot. But as they landed aboard the prison shuttle, taking Wonder Woman towards the prison cells, Nix stood in the same position, fury building up.

Fury over not killing Ivy, regardless of reasoning. Fury over Holy Terra being tainted by avian xeno filth. Fury over being trapped in this heretical age. Fury over almost every aspect of his life since coming to this time and version of Holy Terra. Fury that would finally be vented on its rightful targets, alien scum. As his anger built to its crescendo, only two words passed through the Culexus' mind. Two words that marked the beginning of the end for the Thanagarians.

Rip and Tear.

xxxXXXxxx

Avor and Talas were two of the Thanagarians in charge of patrolling the hangar bay of the prison shuttle that held the Justice League. Shayera Hol and Kragger had just left after the later showed the Hawkgirl her now imprisoned former friends. As the two patrolled past the craft that had brought Wonder Woman something was unleashed.

An immense wave of terror and wrongness poured throughout the hangar bay, the unexpecting Thanagarians screamed out in agony as their minds were assaulted with malevolent force. Avor collapsed first, vomiting as he did so, the clanging sounds of feet coming down a ramp got closer to him. Looking up was his first mistake, a grinning skull with a cannon of some kind on it looking down at him. His second was opening his mouth to scream as his mind threatened to overload. This only made it easier for the monstrocity before him to grab his upper jaw, the touch ripping out his life as it made contact.

Talas watched in horror as the skulled monster that emerged from the ship tore the upper half of Avor's head from his body by the jaw. His companions body was tossed aside as the monster flickered over towards him. Talas tried to reach for his axe, but his arms were grabbed by the creature. Screaming out in complete anguish, he could feel his soul being torn from his body as he was made to look at the creatures glowing blue eyes. The axe he had been going for found itself in his left wing with a superhuman amount of force, cutting it off. Further screams from Talas would be be silenced forever when his head was violently turned 180 degrees with a sicking snap.

The two door guards struggled to stand as the aura of wrongness blanketed the entire hangar. One of them began to reach for the alarm, only for Talas's axe to be tossed across the room and severing his arm. His comrade once more on the ground, now missing an arm, the other guard tried to steel himself and raised blaser. His aim was violently unstead as his hands shook in fear, the monster was looking right at him, his body screaming for him to run. To his credit he got off two shots. However the flickering image of the monster made it impossible to tell where it was, as it seemed to microteleport its way to him. A third shot was ready as he tried to point blank the creature. Alas it was not to be, as his right knee was caved in by a swift and brutal kick that sent a scream throughout the guards body and out his mouth. That cry was muffled by the barrel of the blaster as his eyes widened at the skulls evil smile, its hand on the trigger. One squeeze later and then there was only the one armed guard, trying to crawl away. His pathetic and sad cries of mercy only hastened as his wings were grabbed by the monster. One violent pull later, there lay a wingless and armless dead Thanagarian guard, 10 feet from another missing their head.

Events like this spread throughout the prison shuttle, patrol after patrol being torn apart by a monster with a grinning skull. One lucky Thanagarian was able to sound the alarm to warn his comrades. He was rewarded for this by having his soul ripped violently from his body and his head spun 270 degrees. Despite now knowing of a threat aboard their ship, there was little the Thanagarians could do to stop the massacre.

The Justice League all sat in a state of defeat like they never felt before. Here they sat in a prison tailor made for each one of them. The information of their weaknesses supplied by one who they thought was their friend and ally. When the alarm began to sound the members of the League had wondered just what exactly was going on. They got their answer shortly thereafter.

"Quick everybody in! I want all guns trained on that door!" A Thargarian sergeant ordered, her skin pale white with fear. The hammer in her hand shaking as she tried to calm her nerves.

"What the fuck is that thing?! It ripped out Vara's soul! I saw it!" Another cried out as he shook and aimed a laser gun at the door. The other six could fair no better as they too weakly aimed at the door. They had to abandon the others who tried to fight it in melee, they were ripped apart, the life physically taken from them.

"Hey! What's going on?" Superman called out from his Red Radiation cell. He had a pretty good idea of what was happening, but he wanted to be wrong.

"A flickering skull…...a ghost. It got aboard and is killing everyone! There is no stopping it." One of the privates called out. A loud banging echoed across the prison as an indent made its way into the door the guns were trained on. At the mention of the word ghost, all of the League knew what was happening. The Ghost of Gotham was here, and it was raining hell down upon the Thanagarians.

"Listen, we can help you fight it! Just release us from the cells." Batman called out looking directly into the Sergeants eyes. He could see the fear in her, and could see her weighing the options. Another loud bang happened as a much larger indent made its way into the door.

"...Uhhh…...I...I" The Sargeant looked at her mean as they prepared for what came through next. A final bang knocked the doors off their hinges and the Thanagarians fired away. Laser after laser shot into the doorway for several seconds straight, smoke obscuring the opening. After 20 seconds of continuous fire they stopped and waited for the smoke to clear. Two corpses fell forward, their faces twisted in agony and horror, their bodies and armor torn apart by repeated laser blasts. The sight caused just enough pause and hesitation in the Thanagarians that they had little time to react when their nightmare flickered through the smoke. The aura making the privates collapse.

For the first time the Justice League as a near whole felt the wrongness that emitted from the Culexus. Superman, Batman, Flash, and Green Lantern started to thrash in attempts to get away from the aura. Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter let out screams of unadulterated anguish. One a psychic the other the product of magic and the gods. Both the prime targets for the Pariah gene to attack. Then, as quickly and horrifically as it emerged, the aura was gone, and with it the figure that brought it.

The Thanagarian privates all looked at one in confusion from their spots on the floor, their sargeant leaning against Batman's cell wall attempting to recover. As one slowly made his way to his knees, he was jerked upwards and held off the ground by his throat. A snap soon followed, as the rest of the privates suddenly found their terror set upon them once more. Too close for the lasers, they tried to engage it in hand to hand, a doomed venture from the start. Their blows missed as the monster flicked all around them, breaking their bones, stealing their souls, and smiling at all of it.

The Sargeant made her way towards the console to unlock the cells. She had lost her men, her ship, but she was determined to still try and save her own life. Reaching the console she was able to release the holdings on most of the prisoners. However, two hands found themselves on either side of her head as she pushed the button. Her screams echoed through the hall as Batman shot out and looked at where she had been. The woman's body slumped to the floor, face twisted in a scream that cemented itself on her face, life gone from her eyes. The Ghost was nowhere to be seen, but he was there still.

"Hey, a little help here!" Flash called out from the cell of Martian Manhunter, the green alien prone on the ground, body convulsing. Superman was finding Wonder Woman in a similar situation, though the lasso used to restrain her kept her from falling. Batman looked back towards where he knew the Ghost was with narrow eyes. To his surprise he saw his utility belt sliding across the floor to him from the end of the hall.

"Why save us?" Batman demanded.

" _You have a world to save._ "


End file.
